This translocation process is facilitated by the binding of PA to common regions within the N-terminal domains of LF (LFn) and EF and occurs in the absence of the toxic C-terminal domains of either protein. Indeed, it has been demonstrated that the coadministration of PA and LFn enhances the uptake of both antigens to heighten the magnitude Selleckchem SB431542 of PA- and LFn-specific antibody responses and protect during a lethal anthrax spore infection (Price et al., 2001). The combination of PA and LFn as a molecular syringe has been used to deliver antigens from HIV

and Listeria monocytogenes fused to LFn to the cytoplasm of antigen-presenting cells (APCs; Ballard et al., 1996; Lu et al., 2000). This approach effectively enhanced CD8+ and CD4+ T cell responses to the foreign antigens, highlighting its potential as a multi-agent vaccine delivery system for intracellular pathogens. Multi-agent vaccines that confer protection against two or more diseases are highly desirable for biodefense applications because they reduce the number of vaccines an individual must receive resulting in increased compliance to a vaccination schedule. Like anthrax, immunization against Y. pestis requires an antibody response to two key antigens: Fraction 1 (F1, a component of

the bacteria’s capsule) and LcrV (V, involved in plague’s type III secretion apparatus). In a previous study, we reported that the coadministration of a plasmid encoding PA enhanced the magnitude of the antibody response to V when it was expressed from a second plasmid and concluded that this effect selleck was probably due to the presence of CpG motifs within the PA plasmid because V is not known to bind directly to PA (Williamson et al., 2002). In the present study, we build upon this VAV2 work by determining whether the protective immune response to anthrax and plague could be further enhanced by DNA vaccines expressing the PA/LFn molecular syringe and a V-LFn fusion. As antibody titers to F1 have been correlated with plague survival (Williamson et al., 1999), we also constructed and evaluated a second fusion gene of LFn-F1. Comparison of dissimilar vaccines often requires multiple

animal models to bridge the results from multiple studies. Some of these animal models may not be optimal surrogates for the human disease or are not responsive to treatment (Riemenschneider et al., 2003). To avoid the issue of animal model variability and demonstrate the combined efficacy of both the anthrax and plague DNA vaccine components during pathogen challenge, a common infection model was needed. A/J mice have been identified as an acceptable model for evaluating anthrax vaccines, while BALB/c mice are traditionally the strain of choice for Y. pestis challenge (Griffin et al., 2005). However, unlike A/J mice, BALB/c mice are not susceptible to B. anthracis challenge in a clear dose-dependent manner (Beedham et al., 2001). To establish the utility of A/J mice during Y.