Publications
| Title | Abstract | Year(sorted descending) Filter | PMID Filter |
|---|
| residue histidine 669 is essential for the catalytic activity of bacillus anthracis lethal factor. | the lethal factor (lf) of bacillus anthracis is a zn(2+)-dependent metalloprotease which plays an important role in anthrax virulence. this study was aimed at identifying the histidine residues that are essential to the catalytic activities of lf. the site-directed mutagenesis was employed to replace the 10 histidine residues in domains ii, iii, and iv of lf with alanine residues, respectively. the cytotoxicity of these mutants was tested, and the results revealed that the alanine substitution f ... | 2010 | 20833809 |
| adsorption of chlorine dioxide gas on activated carbons. | research and field experience with chlorine dioxide (clo2) gas to decontaminate structures contaminated with bacillus anthracis spores and other microorganisms have demonstrated the effectiveness of this sterilant technology. however, because of its hazardous properties, the unreacted clo2, gas must be contained and captured during fumigation events. although activated carbon has been used during some decontamination events to capture the clo2 gas, no data are available to quantify the performan ... | 2010 | 20842929 |
| two rare presentations of fatal anthrax: meningeal and intestinal. | anthrax is an ancient disease of animals and men, caused by bacillus anthracis. the diagnosis of cutaneous infection is relatively easy, but other clinical forms might escape recognition. we present two rare and fatal forms of anthrax: meningeal in a 33-year-old male shepherd and intestinal in a 4-year-old boy. the former was admitted to the hospital with complaints of headache, vomiting, fever, and decreased level of consciousness. the latter presented with abdominal pain and distension, vomiti ... | 2010 | 20804313 |
| evaluation of the house fly musca domestica as a mechanical vector for an anthrax. | anthrax is a disease of human beings and animals caused by the encapsulated, spore-forming, bacillus anthracis. the potential role of insects in the spread of b. anthracis to humans and domestic animals during an anthrax outbreak has been confirmed by many studies. among insect vectors, the house fly musca domestica is considered a potential agent for disease transmission. in this study, laboratory-bred specimens of musca domestica were infected by feeding on anthrax-infected rabbit carcass or a ... | 2010 | 20808920 |
| a multiplex nanoparticle-based bio-barcoded dna sensor for the simultaneous detection of multiple pathogens. | a highly amplified, nanoparticle-based, bio-barcoded electrochemical biosensor for the simultaneous multiple detection of the protective antigen a (paga) gene (accession number, m22589) of bacillus anthracis and the insertion element (iel) gene (accession number, z83734) of salmonella enteritidis is reported in this paper. the biosensor system is mainly composed of three nanoparticles: gold nanoparticles (aunps), magnetic nanoparticles (mnps), and nanoparticle tracers (nts, such as pbs and cds). ... | 2010 | 20810267 |
| rapid identification of genetic modifications in bacillus anthracis using whole genome draft sequences generated by 454 pyrosequencing. | the anthrax letter attacks of 2001 highlighted the need for rapid identification of biothreat agents not only for epidemiological surveillance of the intentional outbreak but also for implementing appropriate countermeasures, such as antibiotic treatment, in a timely manner to prevent further casualties. it is clear from the 2001 cases that survival may be markedly improved by administration of antimicrobial therapy during the early symptomatic phase of the illness; i.e., within 3 days of appear ... | 2010 | 20811637 |
| a bacteriophage-based platform for rapid trace detection of proteases. | sensitive, inexpensive, and rapid protease activity assays are of great merit for clinical diagnostics. detection of protease-based toxins produced by clostridium botulinum and bacillus anthracis represents a particularly challenging task, as exceptional sensitivity is a prerequisite because of the extreme potency of the toxins. here we present an inexpensive and sensitive assay platform for activity-based protease quantification utilizing filamentous bacteriophage as an exponentially amplifiabl ... | 2010 | 20812737 |
| case records of the massachusetts general hospital. case 25-2010. a 24-year-old woman with abdominal pain and shock. | 2010 | 20818879 | |
| structural study and thermodynamic characterization of inhibitor binding to lumazine synthase from bacillus anthracis. | the crystal structure of lumazine synthase from bacillus anthracis was solved by molecular replacement and refined to r(cryst) = 23.7% (r(free) = 28.4%) at a resolution of 3.5 a. the structure reveals the icosahedral symmetry of the enzyme and specific features of the active site that are unique in comparison with previously determined orthologues. the application of isothermal titration calorimetry in combination with enzyme kinetics showed that three designed pyrimidine derivatives bind to lum ... | 2010 | 20823551 |
| public compliance with mass prophylaxis guidance. | in 2008, the new york city department of health and mental hygiene (nyc dohmh) conducted a series of 8 focus groups to determine what improvements could be made to existing plans to ensure that the public would adhere to instructions issued during an emergency that required mass antibiotic distribution following an aerosolized anthrax attack. discussion focused on perceptions surrounding public health emergencies, overall point-of dispensing (pod) strategy, willingness to pick up medications for ... | 2010 | 20825336 |
| matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry: usefulness for taxonomy and epidemiology. | matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight (maldi-tof) mass spectrometry (ms) is a powerful tool for the species and subspecies classification of a broad spectrum of bacteria, including gram-positive bacteria such as staphylococcus, streptococcus and listeria, and gram-negative bacteria such as neisseria, salmonella, aeromonas, campylobacter and helicobacter. maldi-tof ms has also been used for the rapid identification and typing of potential bioterrorism agents, including coxiel ... | 2010 | 20825435 |
| bioterrorism : a public health perspective. | the intentional release or threat of release of biologic agents (i.e. viruses, bacteria, fungi or their toxins) in order to cause disease or death among human population or food crops and livestock to terrorize a civilian population or manipulate the government in the present scenario of increased terrorist activity has become a real possibility. the most important step in the event of a bioterrorist attack is the identification of the event. this can be achieved by generating awareness, having ... | 2010 | 27408313 |
| consequences and utility of the zinc-dependent metalloprotease activity of anthrax lethal toxin. | anthrax is caused by the gram-positive bacterium bacillus anthracis. the pathogenesis of this disease is dependent on the presence of two binary toxins, edema toxin (edtx) and lethal toxin (letx). letx, the major virulence factor contributing to anthrax, contains the effector moiety lethal factor (lf), a zinc-dependent metalloprotease specific for targeting mitogen-activated protein kinase kinases. this review will focus on the protease-specific activity and function of lf, and will include a di ... | 2010 | 22069624 |
| biological warfare agents. | the recent bioterrorist attacks using anthrax spores have emphasized the need to detect and decontaminate critical facilities in the shortest possible time. there has been a remarkable progress in the detection, protection and decontamination of biological warfare agents as many instrumentation platforms and detection methodologies are developed and commissioned. even then the threat of biological warfare agents and their use in bioterrorist attacks still remain a leading cause of global concern ... | 2010 | 21829313 |
| the forgotten giants behind louis pasteur: contributions by the veterinarians toussaint and galtier. | 2010 | 21466009 | |
| [species-specific sera against surface antigens of bacillus anthracis strains]. | the species-related specificity of sera against 94-kd proteins isolated from culture filtrates of b. anthracis strains with different levels of virulence plasmids was studied to determine whether they might be used to identify the pathogen of anthrax. sera against fractions 1 of culture filtrates of b. anthracis strains cti (pxo1+ pxo2-), 81/1tr (pxo1- pxo2-), davies (pxo1- pxo) separated by gel chromatography on sephacryl s-300 were examined. in the gel immunodiffusion test with growing culture ... | 2010 | 21319392 |
| the glucocorticoid receptor: a revisited target for toxins. | the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (hpa) axis activation and glucocorticoid responses are critical for survival from a number of bacterial, viral and toxic insults, demonstrated by the fact that removal of the hpa axis or gr blockade enhances mortality rates. replacement with synthetic glucocorticoids reverses these effects by providing protection against lethal effects. glucocorticoid resistance/insensitivity is a common problem in the treatment of many diseases. much research has focused on th ... | 2010 | 22069642 |
| emergence of anthrax edema toxin as a master manipulator of macrophage and b cell functions. | anthrax edema toxin (et), a powerful adenylyl cyclase, is an important virulence factor of bacillus anthracis. until recently, only a modest amount of research was performed to understand the role this toxin plays in the organism's immune evasion strategy. a new wave of studies have begun to elucidate the effects this toxin has on a variety of host cells. while efforts have been made to illuminate the effect et has on cells of the adaptive immune system, such as t cells, the greatest focus has b ... | 2010 | 22069663 |
| aerosolized bacillus anthracis infection in new zealand white rabbits: natural history and intravenous levofloxacin treatment. | the natural history for inhalational bacillus anthracis (ames strain) exposure in new zealand white rabbits was investigated to better identify potential, early biomarkers of anthrax. twelve spf bordetella-free rabbits were exposed to 150 ld(50) aerosolized b. anthracis spores, and clinical signs, body temperature, complete blood count, bacteremia, and presence of protective antigen in the blood (that is, antigenemia) were examined. the development of antigenemia and bacteremia coincided and pre ... | 2010 | 21262133 |
| behavioural factors associated with cutaneous anthrax in musadzi area of gokwe north, zimbabwe. | to determine behaviour factors for contracting human cutaneous anthrax among residents of musadzi area. | 2009 | 21977844 |
| decontamination of bacillus anthracis spores: evaluation of various disinfectants. | the present study compares the efficacy of various disinfectants against bacillus anthracis spores. while bleach rite(®) and 10% bleach reduce spore numbers by 90% within 10 minutes, a long contact time is required for complete disinfection. by contrast, although sporgon(®) did not initially reduce the number of spores as quickly as bleach rite or 10% bleach, shorter contact times were required for complete eradication of viable spores. | 2009 | 20967138 |
| a modeled structure for amidase-03 from bacillus anthracis. | homology models of amidase-03 from bacillus anthracis were constructed using modeller (9v2). modeller constructs protein models using an automated approach for comparative protein structure modeling by the satisfaction of spatial restraints. a template structure of listeria monocytogenes bacteriophage psa endolysin plypsa (pdb id: 1xov) was selected from protein databank (pdb) using blastp with blosum62 sequence alignment scoring matrix. we generated five models using the modeller default routin ... | 2009 | 20975917 |
| suspected outbreak of cutaneous anthrax in kasese district, the investigation and response, april to may 2007. | a report of suspected anthrax was submitted by the kasese district health office to the epidemiology surveillance division of ministry of health. a joint team comprising officers from moh, iph and mph officers proceeded to the district to investigate the reported threat of anthrax. the investigations were conducted in bwera hsd, bukonjo west county, in communities bordering queen elizabeth national park. | 2009 | 20803911 |
| investigation of antimicrobial and protease-inhibitory activity from cultured cyanobacteria. | a culture collection of cyanobacteria has been established at the university of illinois at chicago. this collection includes marine, terrestrial, and freshwater strains and contains representatives of the five orders of cyanobacteria: chroococcales, pleurocapsales, oscillatoriales, nostocales, and stigonematales. in this study, extracts from a subset of 61 strains, 16 marine and 45 freshwater/terrestrial, were evaluated against three current protease targets, i.e. 20s proteasome and two sars vi ... | 2009 | 21430788 |
| bioshock: biotechnology and bioterrorism. | in the recent past, the threat of a global bioterrorist attack has increased dramatically. in addition to the already existing microorganisms and techniques, the recent explosion in biotechnology has considerably added to the arsenal of the bioterrorist. molecular technologies are now available which can be used by committed bioterrorist groups to manipulate and modify microorganisms so as to make them increasingly infectious, virulent or treatment resistant for causing maximum casualties. infec ... | 2009 | 27408292 |
| monitoring anthrax toxin receptor dissociation from the protective antigen by nmr. | the binding of the bacillus anthracis protective antigen (pa) to the host cell receptor is the first step toward the formation of the anthrax toxin, a tripartite set of proteins that include the enzymatic moieties edema factor (ef), and lethal factor (lf). pa is cleaved by a furin-like protease on the cell surface followed by the formation of a donut-shaped heptameric prepore. the prepore undergoes a major structural transition at acidic ph that results in the formation of a membrane spanning po ... | 2009 | 19177347 |
| engineering antibody fragments to fold in the absence of disulfide bonds. | disulfide bonds play a critical role in the stabilization of the immunoglobulin beta-sandwich sandwich. under reducing conditions, such as those that prevail in the cytoplasm, disulfide bonds do not normally form and as a result most antibodies expressed in that compartment (intrabodies) accumulate in a misfolded and inactive state. we have developed a simple method for the quantitative isolation of antibody fragments that retain full activity under reducing conditions from large mutant librarie ... | 2009 | 19177559 |
| antimicrobial effects of interferon-inducible cxc chemokines against bacillus anthracis spores and bacilli. | based on previous studies showing that host chemokines exert antimicrobial activities against bacteria, we sought to determine whether the interferon-inducible glu-leu-arg-negative cxc chemokines cxcl9, cxcl10, and cxcl11 exhibit antimicrobial activities against bacillus anthracis. in vitro analysis demonstrated that all three cxc chemokines exerted direct antimicrobial effects against b. anthracis spores and bacilli including marked reductions in spore and bacillus viability as determined using ... | 2009 | 19179419 |
| anthrax protective antigen delivered by salmonella enterica serovar typhi ty21a protects mice from a lethal anthrax spore challenge. | bacillus anthracis, the etiological agent of anthrax disease, is a proven weapon of bioterrorism. currently, the only licensed vaccine against anthrax in the united states is ava biothrax, which, although efficacious, suffers from several limitations. this vaccine requires six injectable doses over 18 months to stimulate protective immunity, requires a cold chain for storage, and in many cases has been associated with adverse effects. in this study, we modified the b. anthracis protective antige ... | 2009 | 19179420 |
| roles of germination-specific lytic enzymes cwlj and sleb in bacillus anthracis. | the structural characteristics of a spore enable it to withstand stresses that typically kill a vegetative cell. spores remain dormant until small molecule signals induce them to germinate into vegetative bacilli. germination requires degradation of the thick cortical peptidoglycan by germination-specific lytic enzymes (gsles). bacillus anthracis has four putative gsles, based upon sequence similarities with enzymes in other species: sleb, cwlj1, cwlj2, and slel. in this study, the roles of sleb ... | 2009 | 19181808 |
| codon-optimized fluorescent proteins designed for expression in low-gc gram-positive bacteria. | fluorescent proteins have wide applications in biology. however, not all of these proteins are properly expressed in bacteria, especially if the codon usage and genomic gc content of the host organism are not ideal for high expression. in this study, we analyzed the dna sequences of multiple fluorescent protein genes with respect to codons and gc content and compared them to a low-gc gram-positive bacterium, bacillus anthracis. we found high discrepancies for cyan fluorescent protein (cfp), yell ... | 2009 | 19181829 |
| the listeria monocytogenes sortase-b recognizes varied amino acids at position 2 of the sorting motif. | sortases are bacterial enzymes that anchor surface proteins covalently to the peptidoglycan upon cleavage of a motif located at their c-terminal end. motifs recognized by sortases of the class-b (srtb) are defined by the consensus sequence np(q/k)(t/s)(n/g/s)(d/a). evidence supporting this consensus is limited to isdc of staphylococcus aureus and bacillus anthracis, cleaved at motifs npqtn and npktg, respectively. in listeria monocytogenes, strb has two substrates, lmo2185 and lmo2186, containin ... | 2009 | 19129190 |
| detection of anthrax toxin by an ultrasensitive immunoassay using europium nanoparticles. | we developed a europium nanoparticle-based immunoassay (enia) for the sensitive detection of anthrax protective antigen (pa). the enia exhibited a linear dose-dependent pattern within the detection range of 0.01 to 100 ng/ml and was approximately 100-fold more sensitive than enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (elisa). false-positive results were not observed with serum samples from healthy adults, mouse plasma without pa, or plasma samples collected from mice injected with anthrax lethal factor o ... | 2009 | 19129473 |
| anthrax protective antigen administered by dna vaccination to distinct subcellular locations potentiates humoral and cellular immune responses. | based on the hypothesis that immune outcome can be influenced by the form of antigen administered and its ability to access various antigen-processing pathways, we targeted the 63 kda fragment of protective antigen (pa) of bacillus anthracis to various subcellular locations by dna chimeras bearing a set of signal sequences. these targeting signals, namely, lysosome-associated membrane protein 1 (lamp1), tissue plasminogen activator (tpa) and ubiquitin, encoded various forms of pa viz. lysosomal, ... | 2009 | 19130551 |
| detection of disease outbreaks by the use of oral manifestations. | oral manifestations of diseases caused by bioterrorist agents could be a potential data source for biosurveillance. this study had the objectives of determining the oral manifestations of diseases caused by bioterrorist agents, measuring the prevalence of these manifestations in emergency department reports, and constructing and evaluating a detection algorithm based on them. we developed a software application to detect oral manifestations in free text and identified positive reports over three ... | 2009 | 19131324 |
| role of visible light-activated photocatalyst on the reduction of anthrax spore-induced mortality in mice. | photocatalysis of titanium dioxide (tio(2)) substrates is primarily induced by ultraviolet light irradiation. anion-doped tio(2) substrates were shown to exhibit photocatalytic activities under visible-light illumination, relative environmentally-friendly materials. their anti-spore activity against bacillus anthracis, however, remains to be investigated. we evaluated these visible-light activated photocatalysts on the reduction of anthrax spore-induced pathogenesis. | 2009 | 19132100 |
| conservation in the face of diversity: multistrain analysis of an intracellular bacterium. | with the recent completion of numerous sequenced bacterial genomes, notable advances have been made in understanding the level of conservation between various species. however, relatively little is known about the genomic diversity among strains. we determined the complete genome sequence of the florida strain of anaplasma marginale, and near complete (>96%) sequences for an additional three strains, for comparative analysis with the previously fully sequenced st. maries strain genome. | 2009 | 19134224 |
| rapid, high-throughput, culture-based pcr methods to analyze samples for viable spores of bacillus anthracis and its surrogates. | to rapidly remediate facilities after a biothreat agent release, improved turnaround times are needed for sample analysis. current methods to confirm the presence of a viable biothreat agent are limited by low sample throughput. we have developed a rapid-viability-polymerase chain reaction (rv-pcr) method to determine the presence of viable spores. the method combines high-throughput sample processing with 96-well pcr analysis, which measures a change in real-time, quantitative pcr response aris ... | 2009 | 19141303 |
| bioterrorism for the respiratory physician. | terrorist attacks by definition are designed to cause fear and panic. there is no question that a terrorist attack using biological agents would present a grave threat to stability of the society in which they were released. early recognition of such a bioterrorist attack is crucial to containing the damage they could cause. as many of the most likely bioterrorism agents present with pulmonary disease, respiratory physicians may be crucial in the initial recognition and diagnosis phase, and cert ... | 2009 | 19144044 |
| classification of select category a and b bacteria by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. | fourier transform infrared (ft-ir) spectroscopy historically is a powerful tool for the taxonomic classification of bacteria by genus, species, and strain when they are grown under carefully controlled conditions. relatively few reports have investigated the determination and classification of pathogens such as the national institute of allergy and infectious diseases (niaid) category a bacillus anthracis spores and cells (ba), yersinia species, francisella tularensis (ft), and category b brucel ... | 2009 | 19146715 |
| caspase- and p53-dependent apoptosis in breast carcinoma cells induced by a synthetic selenadiazole derivative. | selenadiazole derivative is one kind of synthetic organoselenium compounds with potent and broad-spectrum antitumor activity. in this study, we showed that anthrax [1,2-c] [1,2,5] selenadiazolo-6,11-dione (asdo), an novel selenadiazole derivative, induced time- and dose-dependent apoptotic cell death in mcf-7 human breast carcinoma cells, as indicated by accumulation of sub-g1 cell population, dna fragmentation, nuclear condensation, caspase activation and parp cleavage. asdo-induced apoptosis w ... | 2009 | 19146838 |
| stochastic gating and drug-ribosome interactions. | gentamicin is a potent antibiotic that is used in combination therapy for inhalation anthrax disease. the drug is also often used in therapy for methicillin-resistant staphylococcusaureus. gentamicin works by flipping a conformational switch on the ribosome, disrupting the reading head (i.e., 16s ribosomal decoding bases 1492-1493) used for decoding messenger rna. we use explicit solvent all-atom molecular simulation to study the thermodynamics of the ribosomal decoding site and its interaction ... | 2009 | 19146858 |
| antigen-specific human polyclonal antibodies from hyperimmunized cattle. | antigen-specific human polyclonal antibodies (hpabs), produced by hyperimmunization, could be useful for treating many human diseases. however, yields from available transgenic mice and transchromosomic (tc) cattle carrying human immunoglobulin loci are too low for therapeutic applications. we report a tc bovine system that produces large yields of hpabs. tc cattle were generated by transferring a human artificial chromosome vector carrying the entire unrearranged, human immunoglobulin heavy (hi ... | 2009 | 19151699 |
| the structure of rph, an exoribonuclease from bacillus anthracis, at 1.7 a resolution. | maturation of trna precursors into functional trna molecules requires trimming of the primary transcript at both the 5' and 3' ends. cleavage of nucleotides from the 3' stem of trna precursors, releasing nucleotide diphosphates, is accomplished in bacillus by a phosphate-dependent exoribonuclease, rph. the crystal structure of this enzyme from b. anthracis has been solved by molecular replacement to a resolution of 1.7 a and refined to an r factor of 19.3%. there is one molecule in the asymmetri ... | 2009 | 19153445 |
| seasonality of bacillus species isolated from blood cultures and its potential implications. | because they are rarely associated with actual infections, bacillus species are usually defined as contaminants. however, when isolated, they require precise laboratory identification and may influence treatment. | 2009 | 19162377 |
| increased african-american involvement in vaccine studies. | 2009 | 19095169 | |
| what is the relevance of lung epithelial cells during the dissemination of spores in inhalational anthrax? | 2009 | 19098284 | |
| a short course of antibiotic treatment is effective in preventing death from experimental inhalational anthrax after discontinuing antibiotics. | postexposure prophylaxis of inhalational anthrax requires prolonged antibiotic therapy or antibiotics and vaccination. the duration of treatment for established anthrax is controversial, because retained spores may germinate and cause disease after antibiotics are discontinued. using rhesus macaques, we determined whether a short course of antibiotic treatment, as opposed to prophylaxis, could effectively treat inhalational anthrax and prevent disease caused by the germination of spores after di ... | 2009 | 19099484 |
| mucosal immunization with attenuated salmonella enterica serovar typhi expressing protective antigen of anthrax toxin (pa83) primes monkeys for accelerated serum antibody responses to parenteral pa83 vaccine. | salmonella enterica serovar typhi vaccine strain cvd 908-htra was genetically engineered for stable plasmid-based expression of protective antigen of anthrax toxin (pa83) fused with the export protein clya (clya-pa83). the priming potential of cvd 908-htra expressing clya-pa83 was assessed in 12 rhesus and 20 cynomolgus macaques that were immunized mucosally (i.e., intranasally) on days 0 and 14. a parenteral booster with purified pa83 plus alum was given to rhesus macaques on days 42 and 225; c ... | 2009 | 19099487 |
| induction of autophagy by anthrax lethal toxin. | autophagy is an evolutionary conserved intracellular process whereby cells break down long-lived proteins and organelles. accumulating evidences suggest increasing physiological significance of autophagy in pathogenesis of infectious diseases. anthrax lethal toxin (lt) exerts its influence on numerous cells and herein, we report a novel effect of lt-induced autophagy on mammalian cells. several autophagy biochemical markers including lc3-ii conversion, increased punctuate distribution of gfp-lc3 ... | 2009 | 19103170 |
| extensive antibody cross-reactivity among infectious gram-negative bacteria revealed by proteome microarray analysis. | antibodies provide a sensitive indicator of proteins displayed by bacteria during sepsis. because signals produced by infection are naturally amplified during the antibody response, host immunity can be used to identify biomarkers for proteins that are present at levels currently below detectable limits. we developed a microarray comprising approximately 70% of the 4066 proteins contained within the yersinia pestis proteome to identify antibody biomarkers distinguishing plague from infections ca ... | 2009 | 19112181 |
| efficacy of a vaccine based on protective antigen and killed spores against experimental inhalational anthrax. | protective antigen (pa)-based anthrax vaccines acting on toxins are less effective than live attenuated vaccines, suggesting that additional antigens may contribute to protective immunity. several reports indicate that capsule or spore-associated antigens may enhance the protection afforded by pa. addition of formaldehyde-inactivated spores (fis) to pa (pa-fis) elicits total protection against cutaneous anthrax. nevertheless, vaccines that are effective against cutaneous anthrax may not be so ag ... | 2009 | 19114543 |
| [the dirty dozen]. | the term "the dirty dozen" refers to the 12 biological agents such as, for example, the anthrax bacillus or botulinum toxin that could be used as biological weapons. even if their military use is considered unlikely physicians should be familiar with the problematic because these pathogens can also occur naturally or, respectively, cause disease as the consequence of a laboratory accident. it is of decisive importance to make the diagnosis as quickly as possible in order to limit any further spr ... | 2009 | 19115185 |
| mapping of proteomic composition on the surfaces of bacillus spores by atomic force microscopy-based immunolabeling. | atomic force microscopy (afm) provides a unique capability to image high-resolution architecture and structural dynamics of pathogens (e.g., viruses, bacteria, and bacterial spores) at near-molecular resolution in native conditions. further development of atomic force microscopy to enable the correlation of pathogen protein surface structures with specific gene products is essential to understand the mechanisms of the pathogen life cycle. we applied an afm-based immunolabeling technique for the ... | 2009 | 19063625 |
| association of bacillus anthracis capsule with lethal toxin during experimental infection. | bacillus anthracis lethal toxin (lt) was characterized in plasma from infected african green monkeys, rabbits, and guinea pigs. in all cases, during the terminal phase of infection only the protease-activated 63-kda form of protective antigen (pa(63)) and the residual 20-kda fragment (pa(20)) were detected in the plasma. no uncut pa with a molecular mass of 83 kda was detected in plasma from toxemic animals during the terminal stage of infection. pa(63) was largely associated with lethal factor ... | 2009 | 19064632 |
| a genetic screen to identify bacteriophage lysins. | lysins are phage-encoded, peptidoglycan (cell wall) hydrolases that accumulate in the bacterial cytoplasm during a lytic infection cycle. late during infection, the lysins undergo holin-mediated translocation across the inner membrane into the peptidoglycan matrix where they cleave cell wall covalent bonds required for wall stability and allow bacterial lysis and progeny phage release. this potent hydrolytic activity is now the foundation of a powerful genetic-based screening process for the ide ... | 2009 | 19082564 |
| how to extend the use of grid-based interaction energy maps from chemistry to biotopics. | many computational tools routinely used in chemistry could successfully be applied to the biosciences since protein-protein and protein-ligand interactions are governed by the laws of chemistry. this paper shows that it is possible to extend the use of existing computational tools from their traditional application field (e.g. chemistry) to culturally-related research areas by the implementation of simple but well-designed utilities. in particular, a computational strategy obtained by combining ... | 2009 | 19085992 |
| inflammasomes: guardians of cytosolic sanctity. | the innate immune system is critical in recognizing bacterial and viral infections to evoke a proper immune response. certain members of the intracellular nucleotide-binding and oligomerization domain (nod)-like receptor (nlr) family detect microbial components in the cytosol and trigger the assembly of large caspase-1-activating complexes termed inflammasomes. autoproteolytic maturation of caspase-1 zymogens within these inflammasomes leads to maturation and secretion of the pro-inflammatory cy ... | 2009 | 19120479 |
| anthrax lethal toxin triggers the formation of a membrane-associated inflammasome complex in murine macrophages. | multiple microbial components trigger the formation of an inflammasome complex that contains pathogen-specific nucleotide oligomerization and binding domain (nod)-like receptors (nlrs), caspase-1, and in some cases the scaffolding protein asc. the nlr protein nalp1b has been linked to anthrax lethal toxin (lt)-mediated cytolysis of murine macrophages. here we demonstrate that in unstimulated j774a.1 macrophages, caspase-1 and nalp1b are membrane associated and part of approximately 200- and appr ... | 2009 | 19124602 |
| evaluation of ultrafiltration cartridges for a water sampling apparatus. | to determine the efficiency of various ultrafiltration cartridges (ufc) in concentrating test micro-organisms from drinking water. | 2009 | 19191977 |
| biochemical characterization of alanine racemase--a spore protein produced by bacillus anthracis. | alanine racemase catalyzes the interconversion of l-alanine and d-alanine and plays a crucial role in spore germination and cell wall biosynthesis. in this study, alanine racemase produced by bacillus anthracis was expressed and purified as a monomer in escherichia coli and the importance of lysine 41 in the cofactor binding octapeptide and tyrosine 270 in catalysis was evaluated. the native enzyme exhibited an apparent k(m) of 3 mm for l-alanine, and a v(max) of 295 micromoles/min/mg, with the ... | 2009 | 19192393 |
| expression, purification, crystallization and preliminary x-ray diffraction analysis of dihydrodipicolinate synthase from bacillus anthracis in the presence of pyruvate. | dihydrodipicolinate synthase (dhdps) catalyses the first committed step in the lysine-biosynthesis pathway in bacteria, plants and some fungi. in this study, the expression of dhdps from bacillus anthracis (ba-dhdps) and the purification of the recombinant enzyme in the absence and presence of the substrate pyruvate are described. it is shown that dhdps from b. anthracis purified in the presence of pyruvate yields greater amounts of recombinant enzyme with more than 20-fold greater specific acti ... | 2009 | 19194017 |
| genetic immunization with gpi-anchored anthrax protective antigen raises combined cd1d- and mhc ii-restricted antibody responses by natural killer t cell-mediated help. | studies have demonstrated that lipid rafts ultimately regulate the endocytosis of anthrax toxin via clathrin dependent pathway. interestingly, gpi-anchored protein rich rafts have also been shown to be transported down to the endocytic pathway to reducing late endosomes. taking advantage of this parallelism, we tried translating the anthrax toxin natural intoxication mechanism by administering a dna chimera that encoded protective antigen attached to a mammalian gpi-anchor sequence at its c-term ... | 2009 | 19195490 |
| resistance of athymic nude mice to experimental cutaneous bacillus anthracis infection. | previous studies in a murine cutaneous anthrax model have demonstrated that hairless and haired hrs/j mice are extremely resistant to bacillus anthracis. because these mice are relatively thymus deficient, we used c57bl/6 athymic nude and euthymic mice to evaluate the relationship between t cell deficiency and this heightened resistance. | 2009 | 19199545 |
| evolution of pathogenicity in the bacillus cereus group. | the bacillus cereus group of bacteria comprises soil-dwelling saprophytes but on occasion these bacteria can cause a wide range of diseases in humans, including food poisoning, systemic infections and highly lethal forms of anthrax. while anthrax is almost invariably caused by strains from a single evolutionary lineage, bacillus anthracis, variation in the virulence properties of strains from other lineages has not been fully addressed. using multi-locus sequence data from 667 strains, we recons ... | 2009 | 19200684 |
| a case of pneumonia caused by bacillus anthracis secondary to gastrointestinal anthrax. | we present herein an unusual case of anthrax pneumonia secondary to gastrointestinal infection. in this case, severe abdominal pain occurred during the course of a stent placement procedure. the patient had undergone surgery with the prediagnosis of intestinal ischemia. on the second postoperative day, pneumonia developed and b. anthracis grew as the etiologic agent. pathological examination of small-bowel sections revealed findings in accordance with anthrax. | 2009 | 19201638 |
| involvement of tlr2 in innate response to bacillus anthracis infection. | the involvement of tlr2 receptor in the innate response to infection with bacillus anthracis was investigated. we studied the response to virulent or attenuated vollum strains in either in vitro assays using macrophage cultures, or in an in vivo model comparing the sensitivity of syrian hamster cells (expressing normal tlr2) to chinese hamster cells (lacking functional tlr2) to infection by the various b. anthracis strains. phagocytosis experiments with murine cell cultures or primary macrophage ... | 2009 | 19201824 |
| evidence for a proton-protein symport mechanism in the anthrax toxin channel. | the toxin produced by bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax, is composed of three proteins: a translocase heptameric channel, (pa(63))(7), formed from protective antigen (pa), which allows the other two proteins, lethal and edema factors (lf and ef), to translocate across a host cell's endosomal membrane, disrupting cellular homeostasis. it has been shown that (pa(63))(7) incorporated into planar phospholipid bilayer membranes forms a channel capable of transporting lf and ef. prote ... | 2009 | 19204186 |
| nicotinamide mononucleotide synthetase is the key enzyme for an alternative route of nad biosynthesis in francisella tularensis. | enzymes involved in the last 2 steps of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (nad) cofactor biosynthesis, which catalyze the adenylylation of the nicotinic acid mononucleotide (namn) precursor to nicotinic acid dinucleotide (naad) followed by its amidation to nad, constitute promising drug targets for the development of new antibiotics. these enzymes, namn adenylyltransferase (gene nadd) and nad synthetase (gene nade), respectively, are indispensable and conserved in nearly all bacterial pathogens. ... | 2009 | 19204287 |
| anti-toxin antibodies in prophylaxis and treatment of inhalation anthrax. | the cdc recommend 60 days of oral antibiotics combined with a three-dose series of the anthrax vaccine for prophylaxis after potential exposure to aerosolized bacillus anthracis spores. the anthrax vaccine is currently not licensed for anthrax postexposure prophylaxis and has to be made available under an investigational new drug protocol. postexposure prophylaxis based on antibiotics can be problematic in cases where the use of antibiotics is contraindicated. furthermore, there is a concern tha ... | 2009 | 19207098 |
| pathogenic bacillus anthracis in the progressive gene losses and gains in adaptive evolution. | sequence mutations represent a driving force of adaptive evolution in bacterial pathogens. it is especially evident in reductive genome evolution where bacteria underwent lifestyles shifting from a free-living to a strictly intracellular or host-depending life. it resulted in loss-of-function mutations and/or the acquisition of virulence gene clusters. bacillus anthracis shares a common soil bacterial ancestor with its closely related bacillus species but is the only obligate, causative agent of ... | 2009 | 19208130 |
| identification of bacillus anthracis spore component antigens conserved across diverse bacillus cereus sensu lato strains. | we sought to identify proteins in the bacillus anthracis spore, conserved in other strains of the closely related bacillus cereus group, that elicit an immune response in mammals. two high throughput approaches were used. first, an in silico screening identified 200 conserved putative b. anthracis spore components. a total of 192 of those candidate genes were expressed and purified in vitro, 75 of which reacted with the rabbit immune sera generated against b. anthracis spores. the second approac ... | 2009 | 19208616 |
| phylogeny in aid of the present and novel microbial lineages: diversity in bacillus. | bacillus represents microbes of high economic, medical and biodefense importance. bacillus strain identification based on 16s rrna sequence analyses is invariably limited to species level. secondly, certain discrepancies exist in the segregation of bacillus subtilis strains. in the rdp/ncbi databases, out of a total of 2611 individual 16s rdna sequences belonging to the 175 different species of the genus bacillus, only 1586 have been identified up to species level. 16s rrna sequences of bacillus ... | 2009 | 19212464 |
| dynamics and energetics: a consensus analysis of the impact of calcium on ef-cam protein complex. | we have studied the relationship between dynamical correlations and energetic contributions in an attempt to model the transmission of information inside protein-protein complexes. the complex formed between the edema factor (ef) of bacillus anthracis and calmodulin (cam) was taken as an example, as the formation and stability of the complex depend on the calcium complexation level. the effect of calcium through ef-cam residue network has been investigated with various approaches: 1), the elasti ... | 2009 | 19217845 |
| two small c-type cytochromes affect virulence gene expression in bacillus anthracis. | regulated expression of the genes for anthrax toxin proteins is essential for the virulence of the pathogenic bacterium bacillus anthracis. induction of toxin gene expression depends on several factors, including temperature, bicarbonate levels, and metabolic state of the cell. to identify factors that regulate toxin expression, transposon mutagenesis was performed under non-inducing conditions and mutants were isolated that untimely expressed high levels of toxin. a number of these mutations cl ... | 2009 | 19222757 |
| frequency and domain specificity of toxin-neutralizing paratopes in the human antibody response to anthrax vaccine adsorbed. | protective antigen (pa) is the cell surface recognition unit of the binary anthrax toxin system and the primary immunogenic component in both the current and proposed "next-generation" anthrax vaccines. several studies utilizing animal models have indicated that pa-specific antibodies, acquired by either active or passive immunization, are sufficient to protect against infection with bacillus anthracis. to investigate the human antibody response to anthrax immunization, we have established a lar ... | 2009 | 19223482 |
| immuno-detection of anthrose containing tetrasaccharide in the exosporium of bacillus anthracis and bacillus cereus strains. | bacillus anthracis strains of various origins were analysed with the view to describe intrinsic and persistent structural components of the bacillus collagen-like protein of anthracis glycoprotein associated anthrose containing tetrasaccharide in the exosporium. | 2009 | 19226390 |
| [research and development policy on bioterrorism medical countermeasures in the united states]. | the united states department of health and human services (dhhs) plays a key role in biodefense, which accounts for almost 80% of the u.s. civilian biodefense budget, which itself has amount to over 500 billion yen a year since the 2001 anthrax mailings and has involved programs based on the hspd-10 "biodefense for the 21st century". to promote r&d on medical countermeasures, the dhhs has invested in basic research and ensuring market, and closely communicated with stakeholders to overcome r&d b ... | 2009 | 19227217 |
| structural and chemical basis for glucosamine 6-phosphate binding and activation of the glms ribozyme. | the glms ribozyme is the first naturally occurring catalytic rna that relies on an exogenous, nonnucleotide cofactor for reactivity. from a biochemical perspective, the glms ribozyme derived from bacillus anthracis is the best characterized. however, much of the structural work to date has been done on a variant glms ribozyme, derived from thermoanaerobacter tengcongensis. here we present structures of the b. anthracis glms ribozyme in states before the activating sugar, glucosamine 6-phosphate ... | 2009 | 19228039 |
| the tubulin-like repx protein encoded by the pxo1 plasmid forms polymers in vivo in bacillus anthracis. | bacillus anthracis contains two megaplasmids, pxo1 and pxo2, that are critical for its pathogenesis. stable inheritance of pxo1 in b. anthracis is dependent upon the tubulin/ftsz-like repx protein encoded by this plasmid. previously, we have shown that repx undergoes gtp-dependent polymerization in vitro. however, the polymerization properties and localization pattern of repx in vivo are not known. here, we utilize a repx-green fluorescent protein (gfp) fusion to show that repx forms foci and th ... | 2009 | 19233922 |
| livestock keeper perceptions of four indigenous cattle breeds in tsetse infested areas of ethiopia. | four cattle breeds indigenous to western and south-western ethiopia--abigar, gurage, horro and sheko--were included in a study of the perceptions of smallholder cattle keepers regarding cattle management, production levels and constraints for production. a semi-structured questionnaire was used and 60 cattle keepers from each of the four areas were interviewed. diseases were reported as the main constraint to cattle production by a majority of livestock keepers in all areas except in the sheko a ... | 2009 | 19234873 |
| hydroxylamine-amplified gold nanoparticles for the naked eye and chemiluminescent detection of sequence-specific dna with notable potential for single-nucleotide polymorphism discrimination. | herein, we report a hydroxylamine-amplified gold nanoparticle-based assay with naked eye and chemiluminescent (cl) detection of sequence-specific dna. for the naked eye detection assay, the signal can be observed by naked eye directly, which provides a general way for other biological assays. in contrast, the cl detection method can improve the detection limit by two orders of magnitude as compared to the naked eye detection, and a limit as low as 10 amol of target dna can be sensitively detecte ... | 2009 | 19238286 |
| cutaneous anthrax, west bengal, india, 2007. | 2009 | 19239777 | |
| crystal structure of the bacillus anthracis nucleoside diphosphate kinase and its characterization reveals an enzyme adapted to perform under stress conditions. | nucleoside diphosphate kinases (ndks) play an important role in a plethora of regulatory and metabolic functions. inhibition of the b. anthracis ndk mrna results in the formation of nonviable aberrant spores. we report the characterization and crystal structure of the enzyme from b. anthracis nucleoside diphosphate kinase (bandk), the first from sporulating bacteria. the enzyme, although from a mesophilic source, is active at extremes of ph (3.5-10.5), temperature (10-95 degrees c) and ionic str ... | 2009 | 19241473 |
| norepinephrine increases blood pressure but not survival with anthrax lethal toxin in rats. | the response of anthrax lethal toxin (letx) induced shock and lethality to conventional therapies has received little study. previously, fluids worsened outcome in letx-challenged rats in contrast to its benefit with lipopolysaccharide (lps) or escherichia coli. the current study investigated norepinephrine treatment. | 2009 | 19242337 |
| dendritic cell targeting of bacillus anthracis protective antigen expressed by lactobacillus acidophilus protects mice from lethal challenge. | efficient vaccines potentiate antibody avidity and increase t cell longevity, which confer protection against microbial lethal challenge. a vaccine strategy was established by using lactobacillus acidophilus to deliver bacillus anthracis protective antigen (pa) via specific dendritic cell-targeting peptides to dendritic cells (dcs), which reside in the periphery and mucosal surfaces, thus directing and regulating acquired immunity. the efficiency of oral delivery of l. acidophilus expressing a p ... | 2009 | 19246373 |
| isolation of full-length igg antibodies from combinatorial libraries expressed in escherichia coli. | we have developed a technology for the facile isolation of full-length igg antibodies with desired specificity from combinatorial libraries expressed in escherichia coli. full-length heavy and light chains are expressed from a bicistronic operon and are secreted into the periplasm where they assemble into aglycosylated iggs that are fully functional for antigen binding. expression of an inner membrane-tethered fc-binding protein is used to capture the igg molecules and anchor them to the cell. f ... | 2009 | 19252859 |
| self-assembled peptide monolayers as a toxin sensing mechanism within arrayed microchannels. | a sensor for the lethal bacterial enzyme, botulinum neurotoxin type a (bont/a), was developed using self-assembled monolayers (sams). sams consisting of an immobilized synthetic peptide that mimicked the toxin's in vivo snap-25 protein substrate were formed on au and interfaced with arrayed microfluidic channels. efforts to optimize sam composition and assay conditions for greatest reaction efficiency and sensitivity are described in detail. channel design provided facile fluid manipulation, sam ... | 2009 | 19253949 |
| siderophore-mediated iron acquisition systems in bacillus cereus: identification of receptors for anthrax virulence-associated petrobactin . | during growth under iron limitation, bacillus cereus and bacillus anthracis, two human pathogens from the bacillus cereus group of gram-positive bacteria, secrete two siderophores, bacillibactin (bb) and petrobactin (pb), for iron acquisition via membrane-associated substrate-binding proteins (sbps) and other abc transporter components. since pb is associated with virulence traits in b. anthracis, the pb-mediated iron uptake system presents a potential target for antimicrobial therapies; its cha ... | 2009 | 19254027 |
| anthrax, toxins and vaccines: a 125-year journey targeting bacillus anthracis. | bacillus anthracis is the causative agent of anthrax, a disease that plagues both humans and various animal species. effective vaccines are available, but those approved for human use are crude culture supernatants that require multiple injections and a yearly boost. many experts agree that it is now time for the next generation of human vaccines against anthrax. accordingly, this review will succinctly focus upon: pathogenesis of b. anthracis, with particular emphasis upon the immune system; th ... | 2009 | 19254170 |
| statistical scales of order in dna. | in the present paper we examine the statistics of occurrence of a-t and c-g base pairs in dna. we focus on the net base composition in blocks of base pairs of various sizes. this paper extends our previous work on randomness and order in dna sequences and examines order on various scales. for structure on the local scale (10(0)-10(1) bp) we have seen that the net base composition in given block sizes is fitted very accurately by the discrete binomial distribution for a random system. if the stat ... | 2009 | 19254822 |
| enantioselective desymmetrisation of citric acid catalysed by the substrate-tolerant petrobactin biosynthetic enzyme asba. | asba catalyses the highly enantioselective desymmetrisation of citric acid via atp-dependent condensation with spermidine, as well as the condensation of citric acid with several spermidine analogues and the condensation of the citric acid analogue tricarballylic acid with spermidine, suggesting that it may be a useful biocatalyst for asymmetric synthesis. | 2009 | 19259597 |
| the adenylate cyclase toxins of bacillus anthracis and bordetella pertussis promote th2 cell development by shaping t cell antigen receptor signaling. | the adjuvanticity of bacterial adenylate cyclase toxins has been ascribed to their capacity, largely mediated by camp, to modulate apc activation, resulting in the expression of th2-driving cytokines. on the other hand, camp has been demonstrated to induce a th2 bias when present during t cell priming, suggesting that bacterial camp elevating toxins may directly affect the th1/th2 balance. here we have investigated the effects on human cd4(+) t cell differentiation of two adenylate cyclase toxin ... | 2009 | 19266022 |
| reduced expression of cd45 protein-tyrosine phosphatase provides protection against anthrax pathogenesis. | the modulation of cellular processes by small molecule inhibitors, gene inactivation, or targeted knockdown strategies combined with phenotypic screens are powerful approaches to delineate complex cellular pathways and to identify key players involved in disease pathogenesis. using chemical genetic screening, we tested a library of known phosphatase inhibitors and identified several compounds that protected bacillus anthracis infected macrophages from cell death. the most potent compound was ass ... | 2009 | 19269962 |
| sortase d forms the covalent bond that links bcpb to the tip of bacillus cereus pili. | bacillus cereus and other gram-positive bacteria elaborate pili via a sortase d-catalyzed transpeptidation mechanism from major and minor pilin precursor substrates. after cleavage of the lpxtg sorting signal of the major pilin, bcpa, sortase d forms an amide bond between the c-terminal threonine and the amino group of lysine within the ypkn motif of another bcpa subunit. pilus assembly terminates upon sortase a cleavage of the bcpa sorting signal, resulting in a covalent bond between bcpa and t ... | 2009 | 19269972 |
| secondary cell wall polysaccharides of bacillus anthracis are antigens that contain specific epitopes which cross-react with three pathogenic bacillus cereus strains that caused severe disease, and other epitopes common to all the bacillus cereus strains tested. | the immunoreactivities of hydrogen fluoride (hf)-released cell wall polysaccharides (hf-pss) from selected bacillus anthracis and bacillus cereus strains were compared using antisera against live and killed b. anthracis spores. these antisera bound to the hf-pss from b. anthracis and from three clinical b. cereus isolates (g9241, 03bb87, and 03bb102) obtained from cases of severe or fatal human pneumonia but did not bind to the hf-pss from the closely related b. cereus atcc 10987 or from b. cere ... | 2009 | 19270075 |
| the anthrax vaccine: no new tricks for an old dog. | the original license for production of the anthrax vaccine, anthrax vaccine adsorbed (ava), was issued in 1970. since that time, over 8 million ava immunizations have been administered to 2+ million individuals. in 2002, the national academy of sciences, institute of medicine, reviewed the safety and efficacy of ava. they concluded that the vaccine is acceptably safe and effective in protecting humans against anthrax. the vaccine should protect people against all known strains of anthrax bacteri ... | 2009 | 19270504 |
| lung epithelial injury by b. anthracis lethal toxin is caused by mkk-dependent loss of cytoskeletal integrity. | bacillus anthracis lethal toxin (lt) is a key virulence factor of anthrax and contributes significantly to the in vivo pathology. the enzymatically active component is a zn(2+)-dependent metalloprotease that cleaves most isoforms of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinases (mkks). using ex vivo differentiated human lung epithelium we report that lt destroys lung epithelial barrier function and wound healing responses by immobilizing the actin and microtubule network. long-term exposure to the to ... | 2009 | 19270742 |
| anthrax toxin: pathologic effects on the cardiovascular system. | anthrax is a disease caused by infection with spores from the bacteria bacillus anthracis. after entering the body, the spores germinate into bacteria and secrete a toxin that causes local edema and, in systemic infections, cardiovascular collapse and death. the toxin is a tripartite polypeptide, consisting of protective antigen (pa), lethal factor (lf) and edema factor (ef), which have key roles in the bacterial pathogenesis and disease progression. pa facilitates transfer of lf and ef to the c ... | 2009 | 19273204 |
| pathophysiology of anthrax. | infection by bacillus anthracis in animals and humans results from accidental or intentional exposure, by oral, cutaneous or pulmonary routes, to spores, which are normally present in the soil. treatment includes administration of antibiotics, vaccination or treatment with antibody to the toxin. a better understanding of the molecular basis of the processes involved in the pathogenesis of anthrax namely, spore germination in macrophages and biological effects of the secreted toxins on heart and ... | 2009 | 19273366 |