Publications
| Title | Abstract | Year Filter | PMID(sorted descending) Filter |
|---|
| novel chimpanzee/human monoclonal antibodies that neutralize anthrax lethal factor, and evidence for possible synergy with anti-protective antigen antibody. | three chimpanzee fabs reactive with lethal factor (lf) of anthrax toxin were isolated and converted into complete monoclonal antibodies (mabs) with human gamma1 heavy-chain constant regions. in a macrophage toxicity assay, two of the mabs, lf10e and lf11h, neutralized lethal toxin (lt), a complex of lf and anthrax protective antigen (pa). lf10e has the highest reported affinity for a neutralizing mab against lf (dissociation constant of 0.69 nm). this antibody also efficiently neutralized lt in ... | 2009 | 19528217 |
| femtomolar detection of the anthrax edema factor in human and animal plasma. | edema factor (ef), a calmodulin-activated adenylyl cyclase, is a toxin which contributes to cutaneous and systemic anthrax. as a novel strategy to detect anthrax toxins in humans or animals infected by bacillus anthracis, we have developed a sensitive enzymatic assay to be able to monitor functional ef in human and animal plasma. samples containing ef are incubated in the presence of calmodulin and atp, which is converted to camp. after oxidation and derivatization, camp is monitored by competit ... | 2009 | 19522516 |
| bacterial toxins: an overview on bacterial proteases and their action as virulence factors. | bacterial pathogenicity is a result of a combination of factors, including resistance to environmental threats and to the host's defenses, growth capability, localization in the host, tissue specificity, resource obtaining mechanisms and the bacterium's own defenses to aggression. a variety of bacterial components, often specific to each strain, are involved in the microorganism's survival, adhesion and growth in the host. many of them are harmful and, therefore, are called virulence factors. th ... | 2009 | 19519507 |
| what sets bacillus anthracis apart from other bacillus species? | bacillus anthracis is the cause of anthrax, and two large plasmids are essential for toxicity: pxo1, which contains the toxin genes, and pxo2, which encodes a capsule. b. anthracis forms a highly monomorphic lineage within the b. cereus group, but strains of bacillus thuringiensis and b. cereus exist that are genetically closely related to the b. anthracis cluster. during the past five years b. cereus strains that contain the pxo1 virulence plasmid were discovered, and strains with both pxo1 and ... | 2009 | 19514852 |
| biosensing with nanofluidic diodes. | recently reported nanofluidic diodes with highly nonlinear current-voltage characteristics offer a unique possibility to construct different biosensors. these sensors are based on local changes of the surface charge on walls of single conical nanopores induced by binding of an analyte. the analyte binding can be detected as a change of the ion-current rectification of single nanopores defined as a ratio of currents for voltages of one polarity, and currents for voltages of the opposite polarity. ... | 2009 | 19507907 |
| kinetics of lethal factor and poly-d-glutamic acid antigenemia during inhalation anthrax in rhesus macaques. | systemic anthrax manifests as toxemia, rapidly disseminating septicemia, immune collapse, and death. virulence factors include the anti-phagocytic gamma-linked poly-d-glutamic acid (pga) capsule and two binary toxins, complexes of protective antigen (pa) with lethal factor (lf) and edema factor. we report the characterization of lf, pa, and pga levels during the course of inhalation anthrax in five rhesus macaques. we describe bacteremia, blood differentials, and detection of the pa gene (paga) ... | 2009 | 19506008 |
| enhanced optical chromatography in a pdms microfluidic system. | the purely refractive index driven separation of uniformly sized polystyrene, n = 1.59 and poly(methylmethacrylate), n = 1.49 in an optical chromatography system has been enhanced through the incorporation of a custom poly(dimethysiloxane) (pdms) microfluidic system. a customized channel geometry was used to create separate regions with different linear flow velocities tailored to the specific application. these separate flow regions were then used to expose the entities in the separation to dif ... | 2005 | 19503255 |
| detection of bacillus subtilis spores in water by means of broadband coherent anti-stokes raman spectroscopy. | broadband coherent anti-stokes raman scattering (cars) spectroscopy is used for detection of bacterial spores in aqueous solution. polarization cars spectroscopy is employed to suppress the non-resonant background. cars spectrum recorded in the spectral region from 700 to 1900 cm(-1) exhibits all the characteristic features of spontaneous raman spectrum taken for a solid powder and resembles that one of the dipicolinic acid, which is considered to be the major component of bacterial spores, incl ... | 2005 | 19503156 |
| a new minimal replicon of bacillus anthracis plasmid pxo1. | an 8,883-bp mini-pxo1 plasmid containing a replicon from bacillus anthracis pxo1 (181.6 kb) was identified by making large deletions in the original plasmid using a newly developed cre-loxp system. portions of the truncated mini-pxo1 were cloned into an escherichia coli vector unable to replicate in b. anthracis. a 5.95-kb region encompassing three putative genes was identified as the minimal pxo1 fragment required for replication of the resulting recombinant shuttle plasmid (named pmr) in b. an ... | 2009 | 19502400 |
| comparability of elisa and toxin neutralization to measure immunogenicity of protective antigen in mice, as part of a potency test for anthrax vaccines. | complexities of lethal challenge models have prompted the investigation of immunogenicity assays as potency tests of anthrax vaccines. an elisa and a lethal toxin neutralization assay (tna) were used to measure antibody response to protective antigen (pa) in mice immunized once with either a commercial or a recombinant pa (rpa) vaccine formulated in-house. even though elisa and tna results showed correlation, elisa results may not be able to accurately predict tna results in this single immuniza ... | 2009 | 19501205 |
| anthrax of the gastrointestinal tract and oropharynx: ct findings. | anthrax is an acute infection caused by the gram-positive organism bacillus anthracis. it causes cutaneous, respiratory, and gastrointestinal (gi) infections in humans. we present the computed tomography findings of anthrax of the gi tract and oropharyngeal involvement which include inflammatory lesion in the oropharynx and gi hemorrhage. | 2010 | 19499256 |
| direct detection of genomic dna with fluidic force discrimination assays. | herein, we describe the direct detection of genomic dna using fluidic force discrimination (ffd) assays. starting with extracted bacterial dna, samples are fragmented by restriction enzymes or sonication, then thermocycled in the presence of blocking and labeling sequences, and finally detected with microbead-based ffd assays. both strain and species identification of extracted bacillus dna have been demonstrated in <30 min, without amplification (e.g., pcr). femtomolar assays can be achieved wi ... | 2009 | 19497290 |
| a simple and sensitive method for detection of bacillus anthracis by loop-mediated isothermal amplification. | to develop a rapid and simple system for detection of bacillus anthracis using a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (lamp) method and determine the suitability of lamp for rapid identification of b. anthracis infection. | 2009 | 19493277 |
| distinct interactions of 2'- and 3'-o-(n-methyl)anthraniloyl-isomers of atp and gtp with the adenylyl cyclase toxin of bacillus anthracis, edema factor. | anthrax disease is caused by the spore-forming bacterium, bacillus anthracis. b. anthracis produces a calmodulin-activated adenylyl cyclase (ac) toxin, edema factor (ef). through excessive camp accumulation ef disrupts host defence. in a recent study [taha hm, schmidt j, göttle m, suryanarayana s, shen y, tang wj, et al. molecular analysis of the interaction of anthrax adenylyl cyclase toxin, edema factor, with 2'(3')-o-(n-(methyl)anthraniloyl)-substituted purine and pyrimidine nucleotides. mol ... | 2009 | 19492438 |
| enhanced vaccine antigen delivery by salmonella using antibiotic-free operator-repressor titration-based plasmid stabilisation compared to chromosomal integration. | live attenuated bacteria provide the potential to replace traditional needle-based vaccination with an orally administered vaccine. the heterologous antigen gene is usually transformed as a multi-copy plasmid into the bacterial cell, but plasmids in live bacterial vaccine strains are often unstable, so an alternative approach is to integrate the single-copy antigen gene into the bacterial chromosome. we report a comparison between the chromosomally integrated and the plasmid-borne bacillus anthr ... | 2009 | 19490834 |
| proteomic technology in the design of new effective antibacterial vaccines. | infectious diseases still remain the main cause of human premature deaths, especially in developing countries. vaccines constitute the most cost-effective tool for prophylaxis of infectious diseases. elucidation of the complete genomes of many bacterial pathogens has provided a new blueprint for the search of novel vaccine candidates. at the same time, it was a turning point in the development of transcriptomics and proteomics. this article concentrates on the proteomic contribution to vaccinolo ... | 2009 | 19489702 |
| synthetic peptide vaccine targeting a cryptic neutralizing epitope in domain 2 of bacillus anthracis protective antigen. | current evidence suggests that protective antigen (pa)-based anthrax vaccines may elicit a narrow neutralizing antibody repertoire, and this may represent a vulnerability with pa-based vaccines. in an effort to identify neutralizing specificities which may complement those prevalent in pa antiserum, we evaluated whether sequences within the 2beta2-2beta3 loop of pa, which are apparent in the crystal structure of heptameric but not monomeric pa, might represent a target for an epitope-specific va ... | 2009 | 19487468 |
| the inhibition of the interaction between the anthrax toxin and its cellular receptor by an anti-receptor monoclonal antibody. | the high affinity binding of the anthrax protective antigen (pa) to one of its receptors, capillary morphogenesis protein 2 (cmg2), is essential for the intoxication process of anthrax toxin. to acquire novel research tools to study the pa-cmg2 interaction, we generated several anti-cmg2 monoclonal antibodies (mabs). we demonstrated that one of the mabs, 4b5, could inhibit pa-cmg2 binding and could also protect the sensitive cells against an anthrax lethal toxin challenge. we identified the epit ... | 2009 | 19486894 |
| laboratory-acquired infections. | laboratory-acquired infections due to a wide variety of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites have been described. although the precise risk of infection after an exposure remains poorly defined, surveys of laboratory-acquired infections suggest that brucella species, shigella species, salmonella species, mycobacterium tuberculosis, and neisseria meningitidis are the most common causes. infections due to the bloodborne pathogens (hepatitis b virus, hepatitis c virus, and human immunodeficiency ... | 2009 | 19480580 |
| the heart is an early target of anthrax lethal toxin in mice: a protective role for neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nnos). | anthrax lethal toxin (lt) induces vascular insufficiency in experimental animals through unknown mechanisms. in this study, we show that neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nnos) deficiency in mice causes strikingly increased sensitivity to lt, while deficiencies in the two other nos enzymes (inos and enos) have no effect on lt-mediated mortality. the increased sensitivity of nnos-/- mice was independent of macrophage sensitivity to toxin, or cytokine responses, and could be replicated in nnos-suffi ... | 2009 | 19478875 |
| discovery, characterization and comparison of inhibitors of bacillus anthracis and staphylococcus aureus replicative dna helicases. | antibacterial compounds with new mechanisms of action are needed for effective therapy against drug-resistant pathogens in the clinic and in biodefense. screens for inhibitors of the essential replicative helicases of bacillus anthracis and staphylococcus aureus yielded 18 confirmed hits (ic(50)25 microm). several (5 of 18) of the inhibitors were also shown to inhibit dna replication in permeabilized pola-deficient b. anthracis cells. one of the most potent inhibitors also displayed antibacteria ... | 2009 | 19477652 |
| phylogenetic understanding of clonal populations in an era of whole genome sequencing. | phylogenetic hypotheses using whole genome sequences have the potential for unprecedented accuracy, yet a failure to understand issues associated with discovery bias, character sampling, and strain sampling can lead to highly erroneous conclusions. for microbial pathogens, phylogenies derived from whole genome sequences are becoming more common, as large numbers of characters distributed across entire genomes can yield extremely accurate phylogenies, particularly for strictly clonal populations. ... | 2009 | 19477301 |
| characterization of bacillus anthracis spores isolates from soil by biochemical and multiplex pcr analysis. | outbreaks of bacillus anthracis in animals are repeatedly reported in the islamic republic of iran. in this study soil samples were analysed from endemic regions of the country, and b. anthracis isolates were identified by classical bacteriological and biochemical methods. a multiplex polymerase chain reaction (pcr) assay was also developed as an alternative for identification of isolates, and was shown to be a rapid, sensitive and specific diagnostic assay. the results confirmed that 25 samples ... | 2009 | 19469438 |
| extended multiple-locus variable-number tandem-repeat analysis of bacillus anthracis strains isolated in poland. | twenty-one variable-number tandem-repeat (vntr) marker loci were used for extended multiple locus vntr analysis (mlva) of 14 laboratory strains of bacillus anthracis isolated in poland and vaccine strain sterne 34f2a. the extended mlva (mlva-21) distinguished six genotypes clustered in three main branches. monomorphic branch 1 consisted of the vaccine strain and six isolates from distinct samples of a cow died from anthrax. this group also encompassed three haemolytic isolates of b. anthracis. b ... | 2009 | 19469279 |
| the mast cell activator compound 48/80 is safe and effective when used as an adjuvant for intradermal immunization with bacillus anthracis protective antigen. | we evaluated the safety and efficacy of the mast cell activator compound 48/80 (c48/80) when used as an adjuvant delivered intradermally (id) with recombinant anthrax protective antigen (rpa) in comparison with two well-known adjuvants. mice were vaccinated in the ear pinnae with rpa or rpa+c48/80, cpg oligodeoxynucleotides (cpg), or cholera toxin (ct). all adjuvants induced similar increases in serum anti-rpa igg and lethal toxin neutralizing antibodies. c48/80 induced a balanced cytokine produ ... | 2009 | 19464533 |
| [development of a multiplex pcr-suspension array for simultaneous detection of five bioterrorism bacteria]. | to develop a rapid, high-throughput screening method of gene suspension array technique to simultaneously detect five bioterrorism bacteria: bacillus anthracis, francisella tularensis, yersinia pestis, brucella spp. and burkholderia pseudomallei. | 2009 | 19462919 |
| plants as biofactories for the production of subunit vaccines against bio-security-related bacteria and viruses. | the development of new generation vaccines is an imperative tool to counteract accidental or intended release of bio-threat agents, such as bacillus anthracis, yersinia pestis and variola virus, and to control natural outbreaks. in the past few years, numerous data accumulated on the immunogenicity and safety of plant-made vaccines against bio-security-related organisms. in addition, expression levels achieved for these antigenic proteins are practical for the production of sufficient material f ... | 2009 | 19460602 |
| humanized immunotoxins: a new generation of immunotoxins for targeted cancer therapy. | chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery are the conventional treatment modalities for cancer. the success achieved with these approaches has been limited due to several factors like chemoresistance to drugs, non-specificity leading to peripheral toxicity, and non-resectable tumors. to combat these problems, the concept of targeted therapy using immunotoxins was developed. immunotoxins are chimeric proteins with a cell-selective ligand chemically linked or genetically fused to a toxin moiety and can ... | 2009 | 19459847 |
| evaluation of a plasmid dna-based anthrax vaccine in rabbits, nonhuman primates and healthy adults. | vcl-ab01, a cationic lipid-formulated plasmid dna (pdna)-based vaccine that contains genes encoding genetically detoxified bacillus anthracis protective antigen (pa) and lethal factor (lf), was assessed in a phase 1, dose-escalating clinical trial in healthy adults for safety and immunogenicity, and in nonhuman primates for immunogenicity and efficacy against challenge with a lethal dose of b. anthracis spores. healthy 18-45 year old subjects were randomly assigned to receive either the investig ... | 2009 | 19458488 |
| semi-automated bacterial spore detection system with micro-fluidic chips for aerosol collection, spore treatment and ican dna detection. | a semi-automated bacterial spore detection system (bsds) was developed to detect biological threat agents (e.g., bacillus anthracis) on-site. the system comprised an aerosol sampler, micro-fluidic chip-a (for spore germination and cell lysis), micro-fluidic chip-b (for extraction and detection of genomic dna) and an analyzer. an aerosol with bacterial spores was first collected in the collection chamber of chip-a with a velocity of 300 l/min, and the chip-a was taken off from the aerosol sampler ... | 2009 | 19450964 |
| clinical impressions of anthrax from the 2006 outbreak in saskatchewan. | clinical signs and carcass traits observed during the 2006 saskatchewan anthrax outbreak were largely consistent with those previously published, except for cutaneous anthrax and anthrax mastitis in cows, and subcutaneous edema in bulls and horses. failure of blood to clot was the most reliable indicator of anthrax in carcasses. | 2009 | 19436482 |
| validation of molecular docking programs for virtual screening against dihydropteroate synthase. | dihydropteroate synthase (dhps) is the target of the sulfonamide class of antibiotics and has been a validated antibacterial drug target for nearly 70 years. the sulfonamides target the p-aminobenzoic acid (paba) binding site of dhps and interfere with folate biosynthesis and ultimately prevent bacterial replication. however, widespread bacterial resistance to these drugs has severely limited their effectiveness. this study explores the second and more highly conserved pterin binding site of dhp ... | 2009 | 19434845 |
| effects of altering the germination potential of bacillus anthracis spores by exogenous means in a mouse model. | inhalational anthrax is the most severe form of anthrax. it has been shown in small-animal and non-human primate models that relatively large pools of ungerminated bacillus anthracis spores can remain within the alveolar spaces for days to weeks post-inhalation or until transported to areas more favourable for germination and bacillary outgrowth. in this study, spores of the ames strain that were exposed to germination-inducing media prior to intranasal delivery were significantly less infectiou ... | 2009 | 19429760 |
| activation of plasminogen activator inhibitor implicates protease inha in the acute-phase response to bacillus anthracis infection. | anthrax is a zoonotic disease caused by bacillus anthracis. the infection is associated with inflammation and sepsis, but little is known about the acute-phase response during disease and the nature of the bacterial factors causing it. in this study, we examined the levels of the acute-phase proteins (apps) in comparative experiments using mice challenged with spores and a purified b. anthracis protease inha as a possible factor mediating the response. a strong increase in the plasma levels of a ... | 2009 | 19429749 |
| recovery efficiency and limit of detection of aerosolized bacillus anthracis sterne from environmental surface samples. | after the 2001 anthrax incidents, surface sampling techniques for biological agents were found to be inadequately validated, especially at low surface loadings. we aerosolized bacillus anthracis sterne spores within a chamber to achieve very low surface loading (ca. 3, 30, and 200 cfu per 100 cm(2)). steel and carpet coupons seeded in the chamber were sampled with swab (103 cm(2)) or wipe or vacuum (929 cm(2)) surface sampling methods and analyzed at three laboratories. agar settle plates (60 cm ... | 2009 | 19429546 |
| comparison of traditional and molecular analytical methods for detecting biological agents in raw and drinking water following ultrafiltration. | to compare the performance of traditional methods to quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qpcr) for detecting five biological agents in large-volume drinking-water samples concentrated by ultrafiltration (uf). | 2009 | 19426268 |
| phage-mediated bioluminescent detection of bacillus anthracis. | bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax, is a serious human pathogen. the aim of this study was to provide the proof of principle results for the development of a 'bioluminescent' reporter bacteriophage that was capable of specifically detecting b. anthracis. | 2009 | 19426264 |
| the structure of a cytolytic alpha-helical toxin pore reveals its assembly mechanism. | pore-forming toxins (pfts) are a class of potent virulence factors that convert from a soluble form to a membrane-integrated pore. they exhibit their toxic effect either by destruction of the membrane permeability barrier or by delivery of toxic components through the pores. among the group of bacterial pfts are some of the most dangerous toxins, such as diphtheria and anthrax toxin. examples of eukaryotic pfts are perforin and the membrane-attack complex, proteins of the immune system. pfts can ... | 2009 | 19421192 |
| anthrax infection inhibits the akt signaling involved in the e-cadherin-mediated adhesion of lung epithelial cells. | the effect of anthrax infection on phosphoprotein signaling was studied in human small airway lung epithelial cells exposed to b. anthracis spores of the plasmidless dsterne strain in comparison with the sterne strain containing the toxigenic plasmid (pxo1). the differential regulation of phosphorylation was found in the mitogen-activated protein kinase cascade (erk, p38, and p90rsk), the pi3k cascade (akt, gsk-3alpha/beta), and downstream in the case of the proapoptotic bad and the transcriptio ... | 2009 | 19416348 |
| decreased time for detection and quantification of virulent bacillus anthracis and yersinia pestis using a bionanopore (bnp) membrane technology. | many aspects of biodefense research require quantitative growth assessments of the test agent. this study evaluated the bionanopore (bnp) technology to quantitate bacillus anthracis and yersinia pestis faster than traditional plate counting methods. the bnp technology enabled quantification of b. anthracis and y. pestis in phosphate-buffered saline and naïve rabbit blood at 6 and 24 h, respectively. after 6 h of growth, counts for b. anthracis ranged from 6.19-6.45 log(10) cfu ml(-1) on bnp, whi ... | 2009 | 19413803 |
| anthrax in free-ranging bison in the prince albert national park area of saskatchewan in 2008. | 2009 | 19412394 | |
| an overlap between the control of programmed cell death in bacillus anthracis and sporulation. | the staphylococcus aureus cid and lrg operons have been shown to control cell death and lysis in a manner thought to be analogous to programmed cell death (apoptosis) in eukaryotic organisms. although orthologous operons are present in a wide variety of bacterial species, members of the bacillus cereus group are unique in that they have a total of four cid-/lrg-like operons. two of these operons are similar to the s. aureus cid and lrg operons, while the other two (designated clhab(1) and clhab( ... | 2009 | 19411321 |
| sar studies for a new class of antibacterial nad biosynthesis inhibitors. | a new lead class of antibacterial drug-like nad synthetase (nads) inhibitors was previously identified from a virtual screening study. here a solution-phase synthetic library of 76 compounds, analogs of the urea-sulfonamide 5838, was synthesized in parallel to explore sar on the sulfonamide aryl group. all library members were tested for enzyme inhibition against nads and nicotinic acid mononucleotide adenylyltransferase (namnat), the last two enzymes in the biosynthesis of nad, and for growth i ... | 2009 | 19408950 |
| epidemiologic questions from anthrax outbreak, hunter valley, australia. | 2009 | 19402992 | |
| a single-dose combination therapy that both prevents and treats anthrax infection. | exposure to anthrax leaves susceptible hosts at prolonged risk of infection since spores can persist in vivo for months before germinating to cause life-threatening disease. anthrax vaccine adsorbed (ava, the licensed us vaccine) induces immunity too slowly to protect susceptible individuals post-exposure. antibiotics prevent the proliferation of vegetative bacilli but do not block latent spores from germinating. thus, anthrax-exposed individuals must remain on antibiotic therapy for months to e ... | 2009 | 19402202 |
| chloroplast-derived vaccine antigens and biopharmaceuticals: expression, folding, assembly and functionality. | chloroplast genetic engineering offers several advantages, including high levels of transgene expression, transgene containment via maternal inheritance, and multi-gene expression in a single transformation event. oral delivery is facilitated by hyperexpression of vaccine antigens against cholera, tetanus, anthrax, plague, or canine parvovirus (4%-31% of total soluble protein, tsp) in transgenic chloroplasts (leaves) or non-green plastids (carrots, tomato) as well as the availability of antibiot ... | 2009 | 19401820 |
| bacillus anthracis hssrs signalling to hrtab regulates haem resistance during infection. | bacillus anthracis proliferates to high levels within vertebrate tissues during the pathogenesis of anthrax. this growth is facilitated by the acquisition of nutrient iron from host haem. however, haem acquisition can lead to the accumulation of toxic amounts of haem within b. anthracis. here, we show that b. anthracis resists haem toxicity by sensing haem through the hssrs two-component system, which regulates expression of the haem-detoxifying transporter hrtab. in addition, we demonstrate tha ... | 2009 | 19400785 |
| photoclinic: anthrax. | 2009 | 19400615 | |
| protective antigen detection using horizontally stacked hexagonal zno platelets. | anthrax toxin detection before bacteremia, when toxin concentration is low, improves the chances of efficient treatment and cure. we present a novel technique for ultrasensitive detection of a protective antigen (pa(83)) of anthrax using an array of zinc oxide nanorods in conjunction with a fitc-labeled pa affinity peptide. the nanorods are composed of horizontally stacked hexagonal platelets which are uniformly spaced and grown unidirectionally upon a glass substrate via a new and simple techni ... | 2009 | 19400578 |
| biocidal activity of partially purified fractions from methanolic extract of garcinia kola (heckel) seeds on bacterial isolates. | the in vitro antibacterial activity of crude methanolic extract of the seeds of garcinia kola was investigated. the extracts exhibited antibacterial activities with zones of inhibition ranging from 10 mm to 25 mm. the minimum inhibitory concentration of the diethyl ether fraction was between 0.313 and 5.0 mg/ml, while that of butanol fraction varied from 0.157 to 5.0 mg/ml. the butanol fraction killed about 77% of bacillus anthracis and 79% of escherichia coli cells within 120 min at a concentra ... | 2009 | 19399341 |
| simultaneous expression of homologous and heterologous antigens in rough, attenuated brucella melitensis. | the possibility of expressing a homologous antigen and a heterologous antigen simultaneously in an attenuated brucella melitensis strain was investigated. the brucella wboa gene encoding a mannosyltransferase involved in biosynthesis of lipopolysaccharide o-antigen, and the bacillus anthracis pag gene encoding the protective antigen (pa) were cloned into plasmid pbbr4mcs. the resulting plasmid was introduced into o-antigen deficient b. melitensis strain wrrp1 to produce strain wrspa. strain wrsp ... | 2009 | 19397881 |
| evaluation of gram-positive rod surveillance for early anthrax detection. | since 2003, connecticut laboratories have reported gram-positive rod (gpr) isolates detected within 32 h of inoculation from blood or cerebrospinal fluid. the objectives were to rapidly identify inhalational anthrax and unusual clostridium spp. infections, and to establish round-the-clock laboratory reporting of potential indicators of bioterrorism. from 2003 to 2006, connecticut's gpr surveillance system identified 1134 isolates, including 657 bacillus spp. (none b. anthracis) and 241 clostridi ... | 2009 | 19397835 |
| sporulation and germination gene expression analysis of bacillus anthracis sterne spores in skim milk under heat and different intervention techniques. | to investigate how b. anthracis sterne spores survive in milk under heat (80 degrees c, 10 min), pasteurization (72 degrees c, 15 s), microfiltration, and pasteurization and microfiltration, the expression levels of genes related to sporulation and germination were tested using real-time pcr assays. twenty-seven sporulation- and germination-related genes were selected for the target genes. our results demonstrated that gene expression levels were altered by heat and microfiltration whereas the p ... | 2009 | 19397727 |
| implications of autophagy in anthrax pathogenicity. | the etiological agent for anthrax is bacillus anthracis, which produces lethal toxin (lt) that exerts a myriad of effects on many immune cells. in our previous study, it was demonstrated that lt and protective antigen (pa) induce autophagy in mammalian cells. preliminary results suggest that autophagy may function as a cellular defense mechanism against lt-mediated toxemia. this degradation pathway may also be relevant to other aspects of the immune response in both innate and adaptive immunity. ... | 2009 | 19395870 |
| swraa activates poly-gamma-glutamate synthesis in addition to swarming in bacillus subtilis. | poly-gamma-glutamic acid (gamma-pga) is an extracellular polymer produced by various strains of bacillus. iotat was first described as the component of the capsule in bacillus anthracis, where it plays a relevant role in virulence. gamma-pga is also a distinctive component of 'natto', a traditional japanese food consisting of soybean fermented by bacillus subtilis (natto). domesticated b. subtilis strains do not synthesize gamma-pga although they possess the functional biosynthetic pgs operon. i ... | 2009 | 19389763 |
| bacillus anthracis lethal toxin represses mmtv promoter activity through transcription factors. | we have recently shown that the anthrax lethal toxin (letx) selectively represses nuclear hormone receptors. in this study, we found that letx repressed the activation of the mouse mammary tumor virus promoter related to overexpression of the transcription factors hepatocyte nuclear factor 3, octamer-binding protein 1, and c-jun. letx transcriptional repression was associated with a decrease in the protein levels of these transcription factors in a lethal factor protease activity-dependent manne ... | 2009 | 19389405 |
| [construction of eag deletion mutant of bacillus anthracis vaccine strain a16r]. | construction of eag deletion mutant of bacillus anthracis vaccine strain a16r. | 2009 | 19388260 |
| a strain-variable bacteriocin in bacillus anthracis and bacillus cereus with repeated cys-xaa-xaa motifs. | bacteriocins are peptide antibiotics from ribosomally translated precursors, produced by bacteria often through extensive post-translational modification. minimal sequence conservation, short gene lengths, and low complexity sequence can hinder bacteriocin identification, even during gene calling, so they are often discovered by proximity to accessory genes encoding maturation, immunity, and export functions. this work reports a new subfamily of putative thiazole-containing heterocyclic bacterio ... | 2009 | 19383135 |
| geographical distribution of genotypic and phenotypic markers among bacillus anthracis isolates and related species by historical movement and horizontal transfer. | the geographical distribution of bacillus anthracis strains and isolates bearing some of the same genetic markers as the amerithrax ames isolate was examined and evaluated. at least one mechanism for the horizontal movement of genetic markers was shown amongst isolates and closely related species and the effect of such mixing was demonstrated on phenotype. the results provided potential mechanisms by which attempts to attribute isolates of bacillus anthracis to certain geographical and isolate s ... | 2009 | 19381470 |
| antibodies to squalene in us navy persian gulf war veterans with chronic multisymptom illness. | since the end of the 1991 gulf war, there have been reports of unexplained, multisymptom illnesses afflicting veterans who consistently report more symptoms than do nondeployed veterans. one of the many possible exposures suspected of causing chronic multisymptom illnesses gulf war veterans is squalene, thought to be present in anthrax vaccine. we examined the relationship between squalene antibodies and chronic symptoms reported by navy construction workers (seabees), n=579. 30.2% were deployer ... | 2009 | 19379786 |
| use of molecular beacons and multi-allelic real-time pcr for detection of and discrimination between virulent bacillus anthracis and other bacillus isolates. | the awareness of the threat of bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of the disease anthrax, as a biowarfare and bioterrorism weapon has revived the development of new technologies for rapid and accurate detection of virulent isolates in environmental and clinical samples. here we explore the utility of molecular beacon real-time pcr technology for detection of virulent bacillus anthracis strains. molecular beacons are nucleic acid probes with high specificity, that act as switches by emitting ... | 2009 | 19379778 |
| animal carcass and eyelid anthrax: a case report. | anthrax is a worldwide zoonosis of herbivores, which is caused by the spore-forming bacteria bacillus anthracis, and humans become infected when they are exposed to infected animals and their tissues or the organism directly. in this report, we present a 13-year-old boy who developed eyelid anthrax after contact with a sheep carcass during his summer holiday that resulted in eyelid anthrax and cicatricial ectropion. | 2009 | 19378894 |
| a decision framework for coordinating bioterrorism planning: lessons from the bionet program. | effective disaster preparedness requires coordination across multiple organizations. this article describes a detailed framework developed through the bionet program to facilitate coordination of bioterrorism preparedness planning among military and civilian decision makers. | 2009 | 19378669 |
| dissecting the urokinase activation pathway using urokinase-activated anthrax toxin. | anthrax toxin is a three-part toxin secreted by bacillus anthracis, consisting of protective antigen (prag), edema factor (ef), and lethal factor (lf). to intoxicate host mammalian cells, prag, the cell-binding moiety of the toxin, binds to cells and is then proteolytically activated by furin on the cell surface, resulting in the active heptameric form of prag. this heptamer serves as a protein-conducting channel that translocates ef and lf, the two enzymatic moieties of the toxin, into the cyto ... | 2009 | 19377974 |
| imaging specific cell surface protease activity in living cells using reengineered bacterial cytotoxins. | the scarcity of methods to visualize the activity of individual cell surface proteases in situ has hampered basic research and drug development efforts. in this chapter, we describe a simple, sensitive, and noninvasive assay that uses nontoxic reengineered bacterial cytotoxins with altered protease cleavage specificity to visualize specific cell surface proteolytic activity in single living cells. the assay takes advantage of the absolute requirement for site-specific endoproteolytic cleavage of ... | 2009 | 19377967 |
| sex differences in injection site reactions with human vaccines. | adverse events following immunization (aefi) are not uncommon, with injection site reactions (isrs) being the most common. predictors of injection site reactions are vaccine factors (antigen characteristics, antigen dose, dose number of antigen, antigen adjuvanting and type of diluent), vaccine administration factors (site and route of administration) and vaccinee factors (age and sex, the latter the subject of this review). 1,074 studies which reported isrs were retrieved by searching of on lin ... | 2009 | 19377279 |
| x-ray structure of the ternary mtx.nadph complex of the anthrax dihydrofolate reductase: a pharmacophore for dual-site inhibitor design. | for reasons of bioterrorism and drug resistance, it is imperative to identify and develop new molecular points of intervention against anthrax. dihydrofolate reductase (dhfr) is a highly conserved enzyme and an established target in a number of species for a variety of chemotherapeutic programs. recently, the crystal structure of bacillus anthracis dhfr (badhfr) in complex with methotrexate (mtx) was determined and, based on the structure, proposals were made for drug design strategies directed ... | 2009 | 19374017 |
| matrix metalloproteinase-activated anthrax lethal toxin inhibits endothelial invasion and neovasculature formation during in vitro morphogenesis. | solid tumor growth is dependent on angiogenesis, the formation of neovasculature from existing vessels. endothelial activation of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2, c-jun nh(2)-terminal kinase, and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways is central to this process, and thus presents an attractive target for the development of angiogenesis inhibitors. anthrax lethal toxin (letx) has potent catalytic mitogen-activated protein kinase inhibition activity. preclinical studies showed ... | 2009 | 19372576 |
| antimicrobial ambiguine isonitriles from the cyanobacterium fischerella ambigua. | five new antibacterial ambiguine k-o isonitriles (1-5) and eight previously described indole alkaloids were isolated from the cultured cyanobacterium fischerella ambigua (utex 1903) by bioassay-guided fractionation. the planar structures of the new compounds were determined by spectroscopic analysis including ms and 1d and 2d nmr. x-ray crystallography was used to determine the absolute stereoconfiguration of ambiguine k isonitrile. the isolates were evaluated for their antibacterial activities ... | 2009 | 19371071 |
| vaccines for preventing anthrax. | anthrax is a bacterial zoonosis that occasionally causes human disease and is potentially fatal. anthrax vaccines include a live-attenuated vaccine, an alum-precipitated cell-free filtrate vaccine, and a recombinant protein vaccine. | 2009 | 19370633 |
| bacillus anthracis in china and its relationship to worldwide lineages. | the global pattern of distribution of 1033 b. anthracis isolates has previously been defined by a set of 12 conserved canonical single nucleotide polymorphisms (cansnp). these studies reinforced the presence of three major lineages and 12 sub-lineages and sub-groups of this anthrax-causing pathogen. isolates that form the a lineage (unlike the b and c lineages) have become widely dispersed throughout the world and form the basis for the geographical disposition of "modern" anthrax. an archival c ... | 2009 | 19368722 |
| framework for evaluating anthrax risk in buildings. | if bacillus anthracis (ba), the organism that causes anthrax, is known or suspected to have contaminated a building, a critical decision is what level of contamination is unacceptable. this decision has two components: (1) what is the relationship between the degree of contamination and the risk to occupants, (2) and what is an acceptable risk to occupants? these lead to a further decision: (3) how many samples must be taken to determine whether a building is unacceptably contaminated? we discus ... | 2009 | 19368172 |
| crystal structure of bacillus anthracis dihydrofolate reductase with the dihydrophthalazine-based trimethoprim derivative rab1 provides a structural explanation of potency and selectivity. | bacillus anthracis possesses an innate resistance to the antibiotic trimethoprim due to poor binding to dihydrofolate reductase (dhfr); currently, there are no commercial antibacterials that target this enzyme in b. anthracis. we have previously reported a series of dihydrophthalazine-based trimethoprim derivatives that are inhibitors for this target. in the present work, we have synthesized one compound (rab1) displaying favorable 50% inhibitory concentration (54 nm) and mic (< or =12.8 microg/ ... | 2009 | 19364848 |
| crystal structure of the engineered neutralizing antibody m18 complexed to domain 4 of the anthrax protective antigen. | the virulence of bacillus anthracis is critically dependent on the cytotoxic components of the anthrax toxin, lethal factor (lf) and edema factor (ef). lf and ef gain entry into host cells through interactions with the protective antigen (pa), which binds to host cellular receptors such as cmg2. antibodies that neutralize pa have been shown to confer protection in animal models and are undergoing intense clinical development. a murine monoclonal antibody, 14b7, has been reported to interact with ... | 2009 | 19361425 |
| estimating the location and spatial extent of a covert anthrax release. | rapidly identifying the features of a covert release of an agent such as anthrax could help to inform the planning of public health mitigation strategies. previous studies have sought to estimate the time and size of a bioterror attack based on the symptomatic onset dates of early cases. we extend the scope of these methods by proposing a method for characterizing the time, strength, and also the location of an aerosolized pathogen release. a back-calculation method is developed allowing the cha ... | 2009 | 19360099 |
| substrate recognition of anthrax lethal factor examined by combinatorial and pre-steady-state kinetic approaches. | lethal factor (lf), a zinc-dependent protease of high specificity produced by bacillus anthracis, is the effector component of the binary toxin that causes death in anthrax. new therapeutics targeting the toxin are required to reduce systemic anthrax-related fatalities. in particular, new insights into the lf catalytic mechanism will be useful for the development of lf inhibitors. we evaluated the minimal length required for formation of bona fide lf substrates using substrate phage display. pha ... | 2009 | 19359249 |
| structure-activity relationship studies of a novel series of anthrax lethal factor inhibitors. | we report on the identification of a novel small molecule inhibitor of anthrax lethal factor using a high-throughput screening approach. guided by molecular docking studies, we carried out structure-activity relationship (sar) studies and evaluated activity and selectivity of most promising compounds in in vitro enzyme inhibition assays and cellular assays. selected compounds were further analyzed for their in vitro adme properties, which allowed us to select two compounds for further preliminar ... | 2009 | 19359184 |
| identification and characterization of immunodominant b-cell epitope of the c-terminus of protective antigen of bacillus anthracis. | bacillus anthracis is the etiological agent of anthrax. protective antigen (pa) has been established as the key protective immunogen and is the major component of anthrax vaccine. prior studies have indicated that c-terminus host cell receptor binding region contains dominant protective epitopes of pa. in the present study, we focused our attention on determining b-cell epitopes from this region, which could be employed as a vaccine. using b-cell epitope prediction systems, three regions were id ... | 2009 | 19356802 |
| susceptibilities of bacillus subtilis, bacillus cereus, and avirulent bacillus anthracis spores to liquid biocides. | the susceptibility of spores of bacillus subtilis, bacillus cereus, and avirulent bacillus anthracis to treatment with hydrogen peroxide, peroxyacetic acid, a peroxy-fatty acid mixture, sodium hypochlorite, and acidified sodium chlorite was investigated. results indicated that b. cereus spores may be reasonable predictors of b. anthracis spore inactivation by peroxyacetic acid-based biocides. however, b. cereus was not a reliable predictor of b. anthracis inactivation by the other biocides. in s ... | 2009 | 19350981 |
| chlorine dioxide reactions with indoor materials during building disinfection: surface uptake. | chlorine dioxide received attention as a building disinfectant in the wake of bacillus anthracis contamination of several large buildings in the fall of 2001. it is increasingly used for the disinfection of homes and other indoor environments afflicted by mold. however, little is known regarding the interaction of chlorine dioxide and indoor materials, particularly as related to the removal of chlorine dioxide from air. such removal may be undesirable with respect to the subsequent formation of ... | 2009 | 19350899 |
| health concerns in uk armed forces personnel. | 2009 | 19349506 | |
| bacillus anthracis edema toxin impairs neutrophil actin-based motility. | inhalation anthrax results in high-grade bacteremia and is accompanied by a delay in the rise of the peripheral polymorphonuclear neutrophil (pmn) count and a paucity of pmns in the infected pleural fluid and mediastinum. edema toxin (et) is one of the major bacillus anthracis virulence factors and consists of the adenylate cyclase edema factor (ef) and protective antigen (pa). relatively low concentrations of et (100 to 500 ng/ml of pa and ef) significantly impair human pmn chemokinesis, chemot ... | 2009 | 19349425 |
| quantitative method to determine sporicidal decontamination of building surfaces by gaseous fumigants, and issues related to laboratory-scale studies. | chlorine dioxide gas and vaporous hydrogen peroxide sterilant have been used in the cleanup of building interiors contaminated with spores of bacillus anthracis. a systematic study, in collaboration with the u.s. environmental protection agency, was jointly undertaken by the u.s. army-edgewood chemical biological center to determine the sporicidal efficacies of these two fumigants on six building structural materials: carpet, ceiling tile, unpainted cinder block, painted i-beam steel, painted wa ... | 2009 | 19346341 |
| rapid detection of the poly-gamma-d-glutamic acid capsular antigen of bacillus anthracis by latex agglutination. | latex agglutination has been used to detect capsular polysaccharides from a variety of bacteria in body fluids. a latex agglutination assay was constructed for detection of the poly-gamma-d-glutamic acid (gammadpga) capsular polypeptide of bacillus anthracis in serum from animal models of pulmonary anthrax. the assay was able to detect gammadpga in serum from infected animals at concentrations of 100 to 200 ng/ml. | 2009 | 19345041 |
| lysozyme catalyzes the formation of antimicrobial silver nanoparticles. | hen egg white lysozyme acted as the sole reducing agent and catalyzed the formation of silver nanoparticles in the presence of light. stable silver colloids formed after mixing lysozyme and silver acetate in methanol and the resulting nanoparticles were concentrated and transferred to aqueous solution without any significant changes in physical properties. activity and antimicrobial assays demonstrated lysozyme-silver nanoparticles retained the hydrolase function of the enzyme and were effective ... | 2009 | 19344124 |
| anthrax lethal toxin impairs il-8 expression in epithelial cells through inhibition of histone h3 modification. | lethal toxin (lt) is a critical virulence factor of bacillus anthracis, the etiological agent of anthrax, whose pulmonary form is fatal in the absence of treatment. inflammatory response is a key process of host defense against invading pathogens. we report here that intranasal instillation of a b. anthracis strain bearing inactive lt stimulates cytokine production and polymorphonuclear (pmn) neutrophils recruitment in lungs. these responses are repressed by a prior instillation of an lt prepara ... | 2009 | 19343203 |
| extraordinary pleiotropy of protein kinase ck2 revealed by weblogo phosphoproteome analysis. | a weblogo has been generated from the sequences surrounding 433 ser/thr protein residues whose phosphorylation by protein kinase ck2 had been previously validated ("bona fide" ck2 phosphosites). this has been compared to the weblogo extracted from 2275 putative ck2 phosphosites displaying the motif ps/pt-x1-x2-d/e/ps (where x1 not=p) present in the human phosphoelm database including 10899 naturally occurring phosphosites. the two weblogos are strikingly similar supporting the notion that indeed ... | 2009 | 19339213 |
| existing antibacterial vaccines. | there are countless bacterial pathogens that cause disease in humans. many of these bacterial infections not only cause significant morbidity and mortality in the human population but also cause a significant economic impact on society. vaccines allow for reduction and potential eradication of such diseases. this article will review the currently approved antibacterial vaccines, which are vaccines for pertussis, tetanus, diphtheria, meningococcus, pneumococcus, haemophilus influenza, cholera, ty ... | 2009 | 19335724 |
| 27th annual jpmorgan healthcare conference--biocryst and emergent biosolutions. | 2009 | 19333891 | |
| localization and assembly of proteins comprising the outer structures of the bacillus anthracis spore. | bacterial spores possess a series of concentrically arranged protective structures that contribute to dormancy, survival and, ultimately, germination. one of these structures, the coat, is present in all spores. in bacillus anthracis, however, the spore is surrounded by an additional, poorly understood, morphologically complex structure called the exosporium. here, we characterize three previously discovered exosporium proteins called exsfa (also known as bxpb), exsfb (a highly related paralogue ... | 2009 | 19332815 |
| inhibition of furin/proprotein convertase-catalyzed surface and intracellular processing by small molecules. | furin is a ubiquitously expressed proprotein convertase (pc) that plays a vital role in numerous disease processes including cancer metastasis, bacterial toxin activation (e.g. anthrax and pseudomonas), and viral propagation (e.g. avian influenza and human immunodeficiency virus). to identify small molecule inhibitors of furin and related processing enzymes, we performed high-throughput screens of chemical diversity libraries utilizing both enzyme-based and cell-based assays. the screens identif ... | 2009 | 19332539 |
| idf's anthrax vaccine trial "violated helsinki convention". | 2009 | 19332445 | |
| fusion protein of delta 27lfn and efn has the potential as a novel anthrax toxin inhibitor. | pa-binding domain of lf (lfn) or pa-binding domain of ef (efn) is the anthrax protective antigen (pa) binding domain of anthrax lethal factor (lf) or edema factor (ef). here we show the development of a novel anthrax toxin inhibitor, fusion protein of n-terminal 27 amino acids deletion of lfn (delta27lfn) and efn. in a cell model of intoxication, fusion protein of delta27lfn and efn (delta27lfn-efn) was a 62-fold more potent toxin inhibitor than lfn or efn, and this increased activity correspond ... | 2009 | 19332063 |
| molecular modification of t4 bacteriophage proteins and its potential application - review. | bacteriophage t4 is a virus with well-known genetics, structure, and biology. such techniques as x-ray crystallography, cryo-em, and three-dimensional (3d) image reconstruction allowed describing its structure very precisely. the genome of this bacteriophage was completely sequenced, which opens the way for the use of many molecular techniques, such as site-specific mutagenesis, which was widely applied, e.g., in investigating the functions of some essential t4 proteins. the phage-display method ... | 2009 | 19330539 |
| complement protein c3 binding to bacillus anthracis spores enhances phagocytosis by human macrophages. | alveolar macrophages are thought to play a central role in the pathogenesis of inhalational anthrax. receptors present on macrophages that mediate phagocytosis of bacillus anthracis spores have yet to be completely defined. to begin to determine if soluble factors that are present in the lung such as immunoglobulin and complement are involved, we characterized the binding of human igg and c3 to the surface of b. anthracis spores at different concentrations of nonimmune human serum. furthermore w ... | 2009 | 19328844 |
| the solution structure of bacillus anthracis dihydrofolate reductase yields insight into the analysis of structure-activity relationships for novel inhibitors. | there is a significant need for new therapeutics to treat infections caused by the biodefense agent bacillus anthracis. in pursuit of drug discovery against this organism, we have developed novel propargyl-linked inhibitors that target the essential enzyme dihydrofolate reductase (dhfr) from b. anthracis. previously, we reported an initial series of these inhibitors and a high-resolution crystal structure of the ternary complex of the enzyme bound to its cofactor and one of the most potent inhib ... | 2009 | 19323450 |
| norepinephrine in anthrax-associated shock: even worse than figs? | 2009 | 19318844 | |
| structure of the diaminopimelate epimerase dapf from mycobacterium tuberculosis. | the meso (or d,l) isomer of diaminopimelic acid (dap), a precursor of l-lysine, is a key component of the pentapeptide linker in bacterial peptidoglycan. while the peptidoglycan incorporated in the highly complex cell wall of the pathogen mycobacterium tuberculosis structurally resembles that of escherichia coli, it is unique in that it can contain penicillin-resistant meso-dap-->meso-dap linkages. the interconversion of l,l-dap and meso-dap is catalysed by the dap epimerase dapf, a gene product ... | 2009 | 19307721 |
| bacillus anthracis edema toxin suppresses human macrophage phagocytosis and cytoskeletal remodeling via the protein kinase a and exchange protein activated by cyclic amp pathways. | bacillus anthracis, the etiological agent of anthrax, is a gram-positive spore-forming bacterium. it produces edema toxin (edtx), a powerful adenylate cyclase that increases cyclic amp (camp) levels in host cells. because other camp-increasing agents inhibit key macrophage (mphi) functions, such as phagocytosis, it was hypothesized that edtx would exhibit similar suppressive activities. our previous genechip data showed that edtx downregulated mphi genes involved in actin cytoskeleton remodeling ... | 2009 | 19307216 |
| cellular functions and x-ray structure of anthrolysin o, a cholesterol-dependent cytolysin secreted by bacillus anthracis. | anthrolysin o (alo) is a pore-forming, cholesterol-dependent cytolysin (cdc) secreted by bacillus anthracis, the etiologic agent for anthrax. growing evidence suggests the involvement of alo in anthrax pathogenesis. here, we show that the apical application of alo decreases the barrier function of human polarized epithelial cells as well as increases intracellular calcium and the internalization of the tight junction protein occludin. using pharmacological agents, we also found that barrier func ... | 2009 | 19307185 |