Purified PGGA SEN0014196 extracted from B. anthracis Ames and capsule-OMPC conjugate were prepared as described [12]. Adult male rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Washington, DC), 5 per group, weighing 8.4–13.9 kg, were vaccinated intramuscularly (IM) with two doses of 10 or 50 μg capsule conjugated to 125 or 625 μg OMPC, respectively, on days 0 and 28. Each dose consisted of two 0.5 ml injections, one in each thigh. Control groups were vaccinated with 50 μg capsule or 625 μg OMPC alone by the same schedule. All vaccines were adsorbed to 0.2% Alhydrogel® adjuvant (Invivogen, San Diego, CA). The ratio of protein (capsule plus OMPC) to Alhydrogel was 0.0675 for the 10 μg capsule-OMPC vaccine and 0.337 for the 50 μg capsule-OMPC vaccine. Blood was collected for serological analysis prior to vaccination, just before the second vaccination (day 28) and just before challenge (day 56). Rhesus macaques were challenged with a mean inhaled dose of 77 LD50 (range 10–284) of B. anthracis Ames spores in a head-only chamber, as described [20]. Female New Zealand white rabbits (NZWR, Charles River, Frederick, MD), 10 per group, weighing 2.4–3.35 kg, were vaccinated with the same doses and schedule and challenged similarly with a mean inhaled dose of 50 LD50 (range 2.1–174). Research was conducted under an IACUC approved protocol in compliance with the Animal Welfare Act, PHS Policy, and other federal statutes and regulations relating to animals and experiments involving animals. The facility where this research was conducted is accredited by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care, International and adheres to principles in Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, National Research Council, 2011.
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