Immunogenicity and Protective Efficacy of Recombinant Protective Antigen Anthrax Vaccine (GC1109) in A/J Mice Model

•The immunogenicity and efficacy of GC1109 were tested using A/J mice model.•A booster dose of GC1109 after 3 serial vaccinations enhanced the level of anti-PA IgG and toxin-neutralizing capacity.•Correlation between TNA NF50 titer and survival was observed.•A TNA NF50 of 0.21 corresponded to 70 % probability of protection in A/J mice. A recombinant protective antigen anthrax vaccine (GC1109) is being developed as a new-generation vaccine by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. In accordance with the ongoing step 2 of phase II clinical trials, the immunogenicity and protective efficacy of the booster dose of GC1109 were evaluated in A/J mice after 3 serial vaccinations at 4-week intervals. The results indicated that the booster dose significantly increased the production of anti-protective antigen (PA) IgG and toxin-neutralizing antibody (TNA) compared with those of the group without booster. An enhanced protective effect of the booster dose was not observed because the TNA titers of the group without booster were high enough to confer protection against spore challenge. Additionally, the correlation between TNA titers and probability of survival was determined for calculating the threshold TNA titer levels associated with protection. The threshold 50 % neutralization factor (NF50) of TNA showing 70 % probability of protection was 0.21 in A/J mice with 1,200 LD50 Sterne spores challenge. These results indicate that GC1109 is a promising candidate as a new-generation anthrax vaccine and that a booster dose might provide enhanced protection by producing toxin-neutralizing antibodies.