Publications
| Title | Abstract | Year(sorted ascending) Filter | PMID Filter |
|---|
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| [construction of eag deletion mutant of bacillus anthracis vaccine strain a16r]. | construction of eag deletion mutant of bacillus anthracis vaccine strain a16r. | 2009 | 19388260 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| photoclinic: anthrax. | 2009 | 19400615 | |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| epidemiologic questions from anthrax outbreak, hunter valley, australia. | 2009 | 19402992 | |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| anthrax in free-ranging bison in the prince albert national park area of saskatchewan in 2008. | 2009 | 19412394 | |
| 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 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| [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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| [doxycycline]. | doxycycline is a semi-synthetic derivative of tetracycline family exhibiting an interesting pharmacokinetic profile since no dosage adjustment is required for renal failure. doxycycline displays good bacteriostatic activity against most bacteria as well as anti-inflammatory activity. bacterial resistance is mainly acquired. many infectious diseases can be treated with doxycycline including brucellosis, pasteurellosis, borreliosis, rickettsioses, trepanomatosis, cholera, leptospirosis, q fever, p ... | 2009 | 20099667 |
| [anthrax meningoencephalitis: a case report and review of turkish literature]. | the incidence of anthrax is decreasing in turkey, however, it is still endemic in some regions of the country. although central nervous system involvement is rare in cases with anthrax, high mortality rates are significant. here, we report a 46-years old woman who was anthrax meningoencephalitis. the patient was from yozgat located in central anatolia, turkey. her history revealed that following peeling the skin of sheeps and consuming their meat a week ago, a lesion developed in her left forear ... | 2009 | 20084923 |
| array lead zirconate titanate/glass piezoelectric microcantilevers for real-time detection of bacillus anthracis with 10 spores/ml sensitivity and 1/1000 selectivity in bacterial mixtures. | an array of three identical piezoelectric microcantilever sensors (pemss) consisting of a lead zirconate titanate layer bonded to a glass layer was fabricated and examined for simultaneous, in situ, real-time, all-electrical detection of bacillus anthracis (ba) spores in an aqueous suspension using the first longitudinal extension mode of resonance. with anti-ba antibody immobilized on the sensor surfaces all three pems exhibited identical ba detection resonance frequency shifts at all tested co ... | 2009 | 20059167 |
| raxibacumab. | raxibacumab (abthrax) is a human igg1 monoclonal antibody against bacillus anthracis protective antigen. hgs is currently providing stockpiles of the agent to the us government for use in the prevention and treatment of inhalation anthrax. as of may 2009, the candidate was undergoing review by the us food and drug administration. the availability of bioterrorism countermeasures has become more important since the september 2001 anthrax attacks, and development of raxibacumab is a significant adv ... | 2009 | 20068396 |
| [selected research problems of anthrax vaccine development]. | the threat of bioterrorism with b. anthracis against civilian population is one of major concern. after successful bioterroristic attack in 2001 in us renewed research interest has prompted in the development of new and more effective vaccine against anthrax. there are two licensed vaccines against anthrax--ava-bio-thrax us and uk--sterile culture filtrate prepared by alum precipitation. both vaccines are based on pa antigen. there are several concerns regarding pa based vaccines. they require s ... | 2009 | 20120948 |
| structure of dihydrodipicolinate synthase from methanocaldococcus jannaschii. | in bacteria and plants, dihydrodipicolinate synthase (dhdps) plays a key role in the (s)-lysine biosynthesis pathway. dhdps catalyzes the first step of the condensation of (s)-aspartate-beta-semialdehyde and pyruvate to form an unstable compound, (4s)-4-hydroxy-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-(2s)-dipicolinic acid. the activity of dhdps is allosterically regulated by (s)-lysine, a feedback inhibitor. the crystal structure of dhdps from methanocaldococcus jannaschii (mjdhdps) was solved by the molecular-repla ... | 2009 | 20054116 |
| [genotyping of the bacillus anthracis vaccine strains using the multiloci vntr-analysis]. | the genotyping variety of 5 known anthracis vaccine strains using 18 variable loci of the chromosomal localization taken from a microbe culture collection of 48 research institute of ministry of defense was revealed in the research. the stability of the vntr-loci was shown to be inherited from the b. anthracis strains with common origin and an opportunity of their gene-identification application. the gene profile of each analyzed vaccine strain using every 18 polymorphic loci was determined and ... | 2009 | 20017359 |
| [development of a universal primers pcr-coupled liquid bead array to detect biothreat bacteria]. | to develop a fast, high-throughput screening method with suspension array technique for simultaneous detection of biothreat bacteria. | 2009 | 20137470 |
| a slippery slope. | 2009 | 20010640 | |
| primate study halted by us university. | 2009 | 20010657 | |
| exposure to bioterrorism and mental health response among staff on capitol hill. | the october 2001 anthrax attacks heralded a new era of bioterrorism threat in the u.s. at the time, little systematic data on mental health effects were available to guide authorities' response. for this study, which was conducted 7 months after the anthrax attacks, structured diagnostic interviews were conducted with 137 capitol hill staff workers, including 56 who had been directly exposed to areas independently determined to have been contaminated. postdisaster psychopathology was associated ... | 2009 | 20028246 |
| the four faces of microbial forensics. | the emerging field of microbial forensics played a major role in the investigation of the 2001 anthrax mailings and has been closely associated with the process of attribution, or identifying the perpetrator of a biological attack for purposes of criminal prosecution or military retaliation. nevertheless, microbial forensics has other potential applications in intelligence, nonproliferation, and verification. this article describes the relevance of microbial forensics for a variety of law enforc ... | 2009 | 20028247 |
| source reduction in an anthrax-contaminated mail facility. | following the 2001 bioterrorist attacks using letters containing bacillus anthracis spores, a number of sites had to be decontaminated. source reduction-the process of reducing biocontamination levels prior to the main decontamination treatment-is a critical step in decontaminating buildings. such activities include the removal of items from a facility either for off-site treatment and reuse or ultimate disposal, as well as the pretreatment of certain surfaces in the facility. in addition, waste ... | 2009 | 20028249 |
| a new model of bioterrorism risk assessment. | there has been an abundance of different bioterrorist attack scenarios and consequently an unclear biodefense strategy so far. we present a framework for bioterrorism risk assessment that we believe would be useful for policymakers and understandable without needing to be an expert in this field. we retrieved the medline database via pubmed (from january 1987 to january 2009) and cross-referenced and reviewed the terms biological weapons, biological attacks, bioterror, bio(defense), bio(strategy ... | 2009 | 20028253 |
| sensitive and specific enzyme immunoassays for antigenic trisaccharide from bacillus anthracis spores. | a straightforward synthesis of an anthrose-containing trisaccharide derived from bacillus anthracis was achieved. antibodies raised against this hapten provide a highly sensitive enzyme immunoassay with a detection limit of 8.5 pmol ml(-1). by investigating the specificity of the antibodies obtained using different mono-, di- and trisaccharide synthetic analogues, we demonstrated that the epitope was mainly made up of the methyl group at c-5, the butamido group at c-4 and the hydroxyl at c-3 of ... | 2009 | 20024115 |
| [recombinant antibodies against bioweapons]. | the threat posed by bioweapons (bw) could lead to the re-emergence of such deadly diseases as plague or smallpox, now eradicated from industrialized countries. the development of recombinant antibodies allows tackling this risk because these recombinant molecules are generally well tolerated in human medicine, may be utilized for prophylaxis and treatment, and because antibodies neutralize many bw. recombinant antibodies neutralizing the lethal toxin of anthrax, botulinum toxins and the smallpox ... | 2009 | 20035695 |
| anthrax edema toxin inhibits nox1-mediated formation of reactive oxygen species by colon epithelial cells. | one major route of intoxication by bacillus anthracis (anthrax) spores is via their ingestion and subsequent uptake by the intestinal epithelium. anthrax edema toxin (etx) is an adenylate cyclase that causes persistent elevation of camp in intoxicated cells. nadph oxidase enzymes (nox1-nox5, duox1 and 2) generate reactive oxygen species (ros) as components of the host innate immune response to bacteria, including nox1 in gastrointestinal epithelial tissues. we show that etx effectively inhibits ... | 2009 | 20046221 |
| preparedness for terrorism: managing nuclear, biological and chemical threats. | the management of nuclear, biological and chemical (nbc) terrorism events is critical to reducing morbidity and mortality in the next decade; however, initial patient care considerations and protective actions for staff are unfamiliar to most front-line clinicians. high explosive events (bomb and blast) remain the most common type of terrorism and are easy to detect. conversely, some types of terrorist attacks are more likely to be unsuspected or covert. this paper explains the current threat of ... | 2009 | 20052435 |
| quantum dots in molecular detection of disease. | the unique photophysical properties of semiconductor quantum dots (qds) have made them ideal for use as spectral labels and luminescent probes. in this review, applications are presented in which qds function as active participants in nanoscale biosensor assemblies, where replacing traditional molecular fluorophores results in improved assay performance. specific focus is on disease detection with applications including multiplexed target detection, mutation detection by coincidence analysis and ... | 2009 | 19965019 |
| integrated microfluidic enzyme reactor mass spectrometry platform for detection of anthrax lethal factor. | in this work, we have developed a coupled microfluidic enzyme reactor mass spectrometry platform for the detection of protein toxins such as anthrax lethal factor. the lethal toxin produced during bacillus anthracis infection is a complex protective antigen, which localizes the toxin to the cell receptor and lethal factor (lf). we have demonstrated, in this work, the applicability of a microfluidic reactor for the capture and concentration of enzyme reaction solid-phase. the reaction solid-phase ... | 2009 | 19965140 |
| haploid genetic screens in human cells identify host factors used by pathogens. | loss-of-function genetic screens in model organisms have elucidated numerous biological processes, but the diploid genome of mammalian cells has precluded large-scale gene disruption. we used insertional mutagenesis to develop a screening method to generate null alleles in a human cell line haploid for all chromosomes except chromosome 8. using this approach, we identified host factors essential for infection with influenza and genes encoding important elements of the biosynthetic pathway of dip ... | 2009 | 19965467 |
| anthrax lethal toxin induced lysosomal membrane permeabilization and cytosolic cathepsin release is nlrp1b/nalp1b-dependent. | nod-like receptors (nlrs) are a group of cytoplasmic molecules that recognize microbial invasion or 'danger signals'. activation of nlrs can induce rapid caspase-1 dependent cell death termed pyroptosis, or a caspase-1 independent cell death termed pyronecrosis. bacillus anthracis lethal toxin (lt), is recognized by a subset of alleles of the nlr protein nlrp1b, resulting in pyroptotic cell death of macrophages and dendritic cells. here we show that lt induces lysosomal membrane permeabilization ... | 2009 | 19924255 |
| detection of virulence-associated genes in clinical isolates of bacillus anthracis by multiplex pcr and dna probes. | anthrax is a zoonotic disease caused by bacillus anthracis, and well recognized as a potential agent for bioterrorism. b. anthracis can be identified by detecting the virulence factors genes located on two plasmids, pxo1 and pxo2. the aim of the present study was to determine the presence of virulence genes in 27 isolates of b. anthracis isolated from clinical and environmental samples. for this purpose, multiplex pcr and dna probes were designed to detect protective antigen ( pag), edema factor ... | 2009 | 19996704 |
| prediction of calcium-binding sites by combining loop-modeling with machine learning. | protein ligand-binding sites in the apo state exhibit structural flexibility. this flexibility often frustrates methods for structure-based recognition of these sites because it leads to the absence of electron density for these critical regions, particularly when they are in surface loops. methods for recognizing functional sites in these missing loops would be useful for recovering additional functional information. | 2009 | 20003365 |
| animal research. rejection of anthrax study kicks up a dust storm in oklahoma. | 2009 | 20007868 | |
| synthesis and in vitro efficacy studies of silver carbene complexes on biosafety level 3 bacteria. | a series of n-heterocyclic carbene silver complexes have been synthesized and tested against the select group of bio-safety level 3 bacteria burkholderia pseudomallei, burkholderia mallei, bacillus anthracis, methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus and yersinia pestis. minimal inhibitory concentrations, minimal bactericidal and killing assays demonstrated the exceptional efficacy of the complexes against these potentially weaponizable pathogens. | 2009 | 20160993 |
| simultaneous detection of cdc category "a" dna and rna bioterrorism agents by use of multiplex pcr & rt-pcr enzyme hybridization assays. | assays to simultaneously detect multiple potential agents of bioterrorism are limited. two multiplex pcr and rt-pcr enzyme hybridization assays (mpcr-eha, mrt-pcr-eha) were developed to simultaneously detect many of the cdc category "a" bioterrorism agents. the "bio t" dna assay was developed to detect: variola major (vm), bacillus anthracis (ba), yersinia pestis (yp), francisella tularensis (ft) and varicella zoster virus (vzv). the "bio t" rna assay (mrt-pcr-eha) was developed to detect: ebola ... | 2009 | 20224751 |
| landscape with dead sheep: what they did to gruinard island. 2002. | 2009 | 20178200 | |
| bayesian modeling of unknown diseases for biosurveillance. | this paper investigates bayesian modeling of unknown causes of events in the context of disease-outbreak detection. we introduce a bayesian approach that models and detects both (1) known diseases (e.g., influenza and anthrax) by using informative prior probabilities and (2) unknown diseases (e.g., a new, highly contagious respiratory virus that has never been seen before) by using relatively non-informative prior probabilities. we report the results of simulation experiments which support that ... | 2009 | 20351923 |
| hybrid antimicrobial enzyme and silver nanoparticle coatings for medical instruments. | we report a method for the synthesis of antimicrobial coatings on medical instruments that combines the bacteriolytic activity of lysozyme and the biocidal properties of silver nanoparticles. colloidal suspensions of lysozyme and silver nanoparticles were electrophoretically deposited onto the surface of stainless steel surgical blades and needles. electrodeposited films firmly adhered to stainless steel surfaces even after extensive washing and retained the hydrolytic properties of lysozyme. th ... | 2009 | 20355960 |
| personal protection during resuscitation of casualties contaminated with chemical or biological warfare agents--a survey of medical first responders. | the threat of mass casualties caused by an unconventional terrorist attack is a challenge for the public health system, with special implications for emergency medicine, anesthesia, and intensive care. advanced life support of patients injured by chemical or biological warfare agents requires an adequate level of personal protection. the aim of this study was to evaluate the personal protection knowledge of emergency physicians and anesthetists who would be at the frontline of the initial health ... | 2009 | 20301071 |
| susceptibility to antibiotics of bacillus anthracis strains isolated in romania. | a number of 21 b. anthracis strains isolated from 16 pustules, 2 blood cultures and 3 cerebrospinal fluids during 2000-2004 were studied for their susceptibility to antibiotics. the antibiosusceptibility testing was performed by disk diffusion method, on mueller-hinton agar medium. two of the studied strains exhibited resistance to penicillins, considered until not long ago as antimicrobial agents of choice for the treatment of anthrax infection. the penicillin resistance explained the difficult ... | 2009 | 20361530 |
| anthrax lfn-pa hybrid antigens: biochemistry, immunogenicity, and protection against lethal ames spore challenge in rabbits. | we describe a novel hybrid anthrax toxin approach that incorporates multiple components into a single vaccine product. the key domains of protective antigen (pa) and lethal factor (lf) that may be critical for inducing protective immunity are combined into one recombinant molecule. two lf n-terminal domain-pa hybrids, one with wild-type pa and another with furin cleavage-minus pa, were expressed in e. coli and purified in a native form. both the hybrids bind to the extracellular domain of the ho ... | 2009 | 20390054 |
| high-level expression and single-step purification of recombinant bacillus anthracis protective antigen from escherichia coli. | pa (protective antigen) is a major immunogen of the vaccine against anthrax. in the present study, a new expression system, escherichia coli strain rosetta 2(de3), was used for high-level expression of rpa (recombinant pa) whose gene contains 66 rare e. coli codons (9.0% of 733 total pa gene codons). the rpa-formed inclusion bodies were washed with triton x-100 and 2 m urea and solubilized in 5 m urea, followed by a 60%-satd.-ammonium sulfate precipitation. finally, the untagged rpa was efficien ... | 2009 | 18416696 |
| v-atpase functions in normal and disease processes. | eukaryotic cells have evolved a family of atp-dependent proton pumps known as the vacuolar (h(+))-atpases (or v-atpases) to regulate the ph of intracellular compartments, the extracellular space, and the cytoplasm. v-atpases present within intracellular compartments are important for such normal cellular processes as receptor-mediated endocytosis and intracellular membrane traffic, protein processing and degradation and coupled transport of small molecules and ions. they also facilitate the entr ... | 2009 | 18026982 |
| proton-coupled protein transport through the anthrax toxin channel. | anthrax toxin consists of three proteins (approx. 90kda each): lethal factor (lf); oedema factor (of); and protective antigen (pa). the former two are enzymes that act when they reach the cytosol of a targeted cell. to enter the cytosol, however, which they do after being endocytosed into an acidic vesicle compartment, they require the third component, pa. pa (or rather its proteolytically generated fragment pa63) forms at low ph a heptameric beta-barrel channel, (pa63)7, through which lf and of ... | 2009 | 18957378 |
| sequential detection of salmonella typhimurium and bacillus anthracis spores using magnetoelastic biosensors. | multiple phage-based magnetoelastic (me) biosensors were simultaneously monitored for the detection of different biological pathogens that were sequentially introduced to the measurement system. the biosensors were formed by immobilizing phage and 1mg/ml bsa (blocking agent) onto the magnetoelastic resonator's surface. the detection system included a reference sensor as a control, an e2 phage-coated sensor specific to s. typhimurium, and a jrb7 phage-coated sensor specific to b. anthracis spores ... | 2009 | 18954970 |
| electrical microarrays for highly sensitive detection of multiplex pcr products from biological agents. | for the sensitive detection of amplicons derived from diagnostic pcr, a novel electrical low-density microarray is applied and compared to state-of-the-art quantitative real-time pcr. the principle of the electrochemical method and the effective use for analysis are described. interdigitated array gold electrodes (ida-e) embedded into a silicon chip are the core technology of the fully automated compact biosensor system, basing on enzyme coupled electrochemical detection. the biointerface is bui ... | 2009 | 18954971 |
| role of anthrax toxins in dissemination, disease progression, and induction of protective adaptive immunity in the mouse aerosol challenge model. | anthrax toxins significantly contribute to anthrax disease pathogenesis, and mechanisms by which the toxins affect host cellular responses have been identified with purified toxins. however, the contribution of anthrax toxin proteins to dissemination, disease progression, and subsequent immunity after aerosol infection with spores has not been clearly elucidated. to better understand the role of anthrax toxins in pathogenesis in vivo and to investigate the contribution of antibody to toxin prote ... | 2009 | 18955474 |
| four superoxide dismutases contribute to bacillus anthracis virulence and provide spores with redundant protection from oxidative stress. | the bacillus anthracis genome encodes four superoxide dismutases (sods), enzymes capable of detoxifying oxygen radicals. that two of these sods, sod15 and soda1, are present in the outermost layers of the b. anthracis spore is indicated by previous proteomic analyses of the exosporium. given the requirement that spores must survive interactions with reactive oxygen species generated by cells such as macrophages during infection, we hypothesized that sod15 and soda1 protect the spore from oxidati ... | 2009 | 18955476 |
| the complete genome sequence of bacillus anthracis ames "ancestor". | the pathogenic bacterium bacillus anthracis has become the subject of intense study as a result of its use in a bioterrorism attack in the united states in september and october 2001. previous studies suggested that b. anthracis ames ancestor, the original ames fully virulent plasmid-containing isolate, was the ideal reference. this study describes the complete genome sequence of that original isolate, derived from a sample kept in cold storage since 1981. | 2009 | 18952800 |
| capsular localization of the cryptococcus neoformans polysaccharide component galactoxylomannan. | cryptococcus neoformans capsular polysaccharide is composed of at least two components, glucuronoxylomannan (gxm) and galactoxylomannans (galxm). although gxm has been extensively studied, little is known about the location of galxm in the c. neoformans capsule, in part because there are no serological reagents specific to this antigen. to circumvent the poor immunogenicity of galxm, this antigen was conjugated to protective antigen from bacillus anthracis as a protein carrier. the resulting con ... | 2009 | 18952901 |