Publications
| Title | Abstract | Year(sorted descending) Filter | PMID Filter |
|---|
| 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 |
| anthrax edema toxin induces maturation of dendritic cells and enhances chemotaxis towards macrophage inflammatory protein 3beta. | bacillus anthracis secretes two bipartite toxins, edema toxin (et) and lethal toxin (lt), which impair immune responses and contribute directly to the pathology associated with the disease anthrax. edema factor, the catalytic subunit of et, is an adenylate cyclase that impairs host defenses by raising cellular cyclic amp (camp) levels. synthetic camp analogues and compounds that raise intracellular camp levels lead to phenotypic and functional changes in dendritic cells (dcs). here, we demonstra ... | 2009 | 19273556 |
| bryan krantz: from folding to unfolding proteins. interview by liz savage. | 2009 | 19273611 | |
| artificial plasmid engineered to simulate multiple biological threat agents. | the objective of this study was to develop a non-virulent simulant to replace several virulent organisms during the development of detection and identification methods for biological threat agents. we identified and selected specific genes to detect yersinia pestis, francisella tularensis, burkholderia mallei, burkholderia pseudomallei, rickettsia sp., coxiella burnetii, brucella sp., enterohemorrhagic escherichia coli o157:h7, bacillus anthracis, and variola (smallpox) virus. we then designed a ... | 2009 | 18923830 |
| pulmonary deposition of aerosolized bacillus atrophaeus in a swine model due to exposure from a simulated anthrax letter incident. | dry anthrax spore powder is readily disseminated as an aerosol and it is possible that passive dispersion when opening a letter containing anthrax spores may result in lethal doses to humans. the specific aim of this study was to quantify the respirable aerosol hazard associated with opening an envelope/letter contaminated with a dry spore powder of the biological pathogen anthrax in a typical office environment. an envelope containing a letter contaminated with 1.0 g of dry bacillus atrophaeus ... | 2009 | 18923948 |
| human anthrax in turkey from 1990 to 2007. | anthrax is an endemic disease in turkey, among other countries of the world. the potential of bacillus anthracis as a bioterrorism agent makes anthrax an important global issue. the aim of the present study was to review human anthrax in turkey during the last decade. human anthrax cases recorded from 1990 to 2005 were obtained from the website of the turkish ministry of health, and those recorded between 1995 and 2005 were plotted on a map of turkey. papers on anthrax published from turkey betw ... | 2009 | 18945187 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| kinetic and x-ray structural evidence for negative cooperativity in substrate binding to nicotinate mononucleotide adenylyltransferase (nmat) from bacillus anthracis. | biosynthesis of nad(p) in bacteria occurs either de novo or through one of the salvage pathways that converge at the point where the reaction of nicotinate mononucleotide (namn) with atp is coupled to the formation of nicotinate adenine dinucleotide (naad) and inorganic pyrophosphate. this reaction is catalyzed by nicotinate mononucleotide adenylyltransferase (nmat), which is essential for bacterial growth, making it an attractive drug target for the development of new antibiotics. steady-state ... | 2009 | 18977360 |
| modeling the activity of furin inhibitors using artificial neural network. | quantitative structure-activity relationship (qsar) models were constructed for predicting the inhibition of furin-dependent processing of anthrax protective antigen of substituted guanidinylated aryl 2,5-dideoxystreptamines. molecular descriptors calculated by e-dragon and recon were subjected to variable reduction using the unsupervised forward selection (ufs) algorithm. the variables were then used as input for qsar model generation using partial least squares and back-propagation neural netw ... | 2009 | 18977558 |
| trends in prokaryotic evolution revealed by comparison of closely related bacterial and archaeal genomes. | in order to explore microevolutionary trends in bacteria and archaea, we constructed a data set of 41 alignable tight genome clusters (atgcs). we show that the ratio of the medians of nonsynonymous to synonymous substitution rates (dn/ds) that is used as a measure of the purifying selection pressure on protein sequences is a stable characteristic of the atgcs. in agreement with previous findings, parasitic bacteria, notwithstanding the sometimes dramatic genome shrinkage caused by gene loss, are ... | 2009 | 18978059 |
| discriminating virulence mechanisms among bacillus anthracis strains by using a murine subcutaneous infection model. | bacillus anthracis strains harboring virulence plasmid pxo1 that encodes the toxin protein protective antigen (pa), lethal factor, and edema factor and virulence plasmid pxo2 that encodes capsule biosynthetic enzymes exhibit different levels of virulence in certain animal models. in the murine model of pulmonary infection, b. anthracis virulence was capsule dependent but toxin independent. we examined the role of toxins in subcutaneous (s.c.) infections using two different genetically complete ( ... | 2009 | 18981254 |
| sequential b-cell epitopes of bacillus anthracis lethal factor bind lethal toxin-neutralizing antibodies. | the bipartite anthrax lethal toxin (letx) consisting of protective antigen (pa) and lethal factor (lf) is a major virulence factor contributing to death from systemic bacillus anthracis infection. the current vaccine elicits antibodies directed primarily to pa; however, in experimental settings serologic responses to lf can neutralize letx and contribute to protection against infection. the goals of the present study were to identify sequential b-cell epitopes of lf and to determine the capacity ... | 2009 | 18981257 |
| development and field testing of a mobile chlorine dioxide generation system for the decontamination of buildings contaminated with bacillus anthracis. | the numerous buildings that became contaminated with bacillus anthracis (the bacterium causing the disease anthrax) in 2001, and more recent b. anthracis - related events, point to the need to have effective decontamination technologies for buildings contaminated with biological threat agents. the u.s. government developed a portable chlorine dioxide (clo(2)) generation system to decontaminate buildings contaminated with b. anthracis spores, and this so-called mobile decontamination trailer (mdt ... | 2009 | 18990488 |
| adverse events after anthrax vaccination reported to the vaccine adverse event reporting system (vaers), 1990-2007. | during the period march 1, 1998 to january 14, 2007, approximately 6 million doses of anthrax vaccine adsorbed (ava) vaccine were administered. as of january 16, 2007, 4753 reports of adverse events following receipt of ava vaccination had been submitted to the vaccine adverse event reporting system (vaers). taken together, reports to vaers did not definitively link any serious unexpected risk to this vaccine, and review of death and serious reports did not show a distinctive pattern indicative ... | 2009 | 18992783 |
| macrophage uptake, intracellular localization, and degradation of poly-gamma-d-glutamic acid, the capsular antigen of bacillus anthracis. | bacillus anthracis is surrounded by a capsular polypeptide composed of poly-gamma-d-glutamic acid (pga). this antiphagocytic capsule is an essential virulence factor and is shed into body fluids during a murine model of pulmonary anthrax. our previous studies of a murine model for antigen clearance showed that purified pga accumulates in the liver and spleen, most notably in splenic macrophages and the kupffer cells and sinusoidal endothelial cells of the liver. although the tissue and cellular ... | 2009 | 19001075 |
| genetic vaccines for anthrax based on recombinant adeno-associated virus vectors. | bacillus anthracis represents a formidable bioterrorism and biowarfare threat for which new vaccines are needed with improved safety and efficacy over current options. toward this end, we created recombinant adeno-associated virus type 1 (raav1) vectors containing synthetic genes derived from the protective antigen (pa) or lethal factor (lf) of anthrax lethal toxin (letx) and tested them for immunogenicity and induction of toxin-neutralizing antibodies in rabbits. codon-optimized segments encodi ... | 2009 | 19002162 |
| a simple method for the rapid removal of bacillus anthracis spores from dna preparations. | this study establishes a filtration method for the safe removal of bacillus anthracis spores which may contaminate dna preparations. centrifugal filtration with 0.1-microm filter units can be used following extraction of dna from b. anthracis spores to render samples safe without compromising the sensitivity of diagnostic real-time pcr assays for b. anthracis. | 2009 | 18996156 |
| surface sampling of spores in dry-deposition aerosols. | the ability to reliably and reproducibly sample surfaces contaminated with a biological agent is a critical step in measuring the extent of contamination and determining if decontamination steps have been successful. the recovery operations following the 2001 attacks with bacillus anthracis spores were complicated by the fact that no standard sample collection format or decontamination procedures were established. recovery efficiencies traditionally have been calculated based upon biological age ... | 2009 | 18997021 |
| inhibition of methionyl-trna synthetase by rep8839 and effects of resistance mutations on enzyme activity. | rep8839 is a selective inhibitor of methionyl-trna synthetase (metrs) with antibacterial activity against a variety of gram-positive organisms. we determined rep8839 potency against staphylococcus aureus metrs and assessed its selectivity for bacterial versus human orthologs of metrs. the inhibition constant (k(i)) of rep8839 was 10 pm for staphylococcus aureus metrs. inhibition of metrs by rep8839 was competitive with methionine and uncompetitive with atp. thus, high physiological atp levels wo ... | 2009 | 19015366 |
| capsule anchoring in bacillus anthracis occurs by a transpeptidation reaction that is inhibited by capsidin. | bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax, is a dangerous biological weapon, as spores derived from drug-resistant strains cause infections for which antibiotic therapy is no longer effective. we sought to develop an anti-infective therapy for anthrax and targeted capd, an enzyme that cleaves poly-gamma-d-glutamate capsule and generates amide bonds with peptidoglycan cross-bridges to deposit capsular material into the envelope of b. anthracis. in agreement with the model that capsule co ... | 2009 | 19017271 |
| a unique sensor histidine kinase. | 2009 | 19028898 | |
| structural studies of shikimate dehydrogenase from bacillus anthracis complexed with cofactor nadp. | bacillus anthracis has been employed as an agent of bioterrorism, with high mortality, despite anti-microbial treatment, which strongly indicates the need of new drugs to treat anthrax. shikimate pathway is a seven step biosynthetic route which generates chorismic acid from phosphoenol pyruvate and erythrose-4-phosphate. chorismic acid is the major branch point in the synthesis of aromatic amino acids, ubiquinone, and secondary metabolites. the shikimate pathway is essential for many pathologica ... | 2009 | 19043750 |
| label-free dual sensing of dna molecules using gan nanowires. | we demonstrate a rationale for using gan nanowires (gannws) in label-free dna-sensing using dual routes of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (eis) and photoluminescence (pl) measurements, employing a popular target dna with anthrax lethal factor (lf) sequence. the in situ eis reveals that both high surface area and surface band-bending in the nanowires, providing more binding sites and surface-enhanced charge transfer, respectively, are responsible for the enhanced sensitivity to surface-im ... | 2009 | 19046071 |
| the cmg2 elisa for evaluating inhibitors of the binding of anthrax toxin protective antigen to its receptor. | anthrax toxin comprises a protective antigen (pa) of mw 83 kda, a lethal factor (lf) and an edema factor (ef). upon binding to its receptor on cell surfaces, pa(83) is enzymatically cleaved to a 63 kda product (pa(63)), followed by binding of lf or ef, receptor-mediated internalisation of these factors, and production of their toxic effects. the high-affinity binding of pa(83) to its receptor is essential for the intoxication process. to study the interaction between the pa and its receptor, and ... | 2009 | 19049885 |
| comparative genomic study of spo0e family genes and elucidation of the role of spo0e in bacillus anthracis. | the propensity of bacterium to sporulate or retain the vegetative form depends on the amount of phosphorylated spo0a (spo0a(-p)), regulated by spo0e multigene family of phosphatases (spo0e, yisi and ynzd). phylogenetic analysis revealed that spo0e multigene family of phosphatases (smfp) descends in two distinct clades of aerobic (bacillus cluster) and anaerobic (clostridia cluster) sporulating bacteria. high sequence conservation within species gives a notion that these members could have evolve ... | 2009 | 19050850 |
| europium-based fluorescence nanoparticle sensor for rapid and ultrasensitive detection of an anthrax biomarker. | 2009 | 19053099 | |
| use of superabsorbent polymer gels for surface decontamination of bacillus anthracis spores. | this study evaluated the inactivation of bacillus anthracis vollum spores dried on a nonporous surface using a superabsorbent polymer (sap) gel containing commercially available liquid decontaminants. | 2009 | 19055629 |
| photocatalytic inactivation of bacillus anthracis by titania nanomaterials. | photocatalytic inactivation of bacillus anthracis was studied by using titania nanomaterials and uva light. experimental data clearly indicated that, time of exposure, quantity of catalyst, intensity of light, particle size and sunlight affected the inactivation. it also demonstrated the pseudo-first order behavior of inactivation kinetics and pointed out the enhanced rate of inactivation in the presence of nano-titania existing as a mixture of anatase and rutile phases. the values of rate const ... | 2009 | 19056174 |
| molecular analysis of the interaction of anthrax adenylyl cyclase toxin, edema factor, with 2'(3')-o-(n-(methyl)anthraniloyl)-substituted purine and pyrimidine nucleotides. | bacillus anthracis causes anthrax disease and exerts its deleterious effects by the release of three exotoxins: lethal factor, protective antigen, and edema factor (ef), a highly active calmodulin-dependent adenylyl cyclase (ac). however, conventional antibiotic treatment is ineffective against either toxemia or antibiotic-resistant strains. thus, more effective drugs for anthrax treatment are needed. previous studies from our laboratory showed that mammalian membranous ac (mac) exhibits broad s ... | 2009 | 19056899 |
| unique gtp-binding pocket and allostery of uridylate kinase from a gram-negative phytopathogenic bacterium. | using x-ray diffraction methodology, we have successfully determined the tertiary structures of the apo- and gtp-bound forms of uridylate kinase (umpk) from the gram-negative plant pathogen xanthomonas campestris with crystals grown under a strong magnetic field. the flexible atp- and ump-binding loops are clearly shown under this situation. x. campestris umpk contains a unique patch of noticeably positive nature from residue r100 to residue r127, allowing it to form a special gtp-binding pocket ... | 2009 | 19059268 |
| the site for the allosteric activator gtp of escherichia coli ump kinase. | ump kinase (umpk), a key bacterial pyrimidine nucleotide biosynthesis enzyme, is utp-inhibited and gtp-activated. we delineate the gtp site of escherichia coli umpk by alanine mutagenesis of r92, h96, r103, w119 or r130, abolishing gtp activation; of s124 and r127, decreasing affinity for gtp; and of n111 and d115, with little detrimental effect. we exclude the correspondence with the modulatory atp site of bacillus anthracis umpk, confirming the functionality of the gtp site found by evrin. mut ... | 2009 | 19071117 |
| complete genome sequence of macrococcus caseolyticus strain jcscs5402, [corrected] reflecting the ancestral genome of the human-pathogenic staphylococci. | we isolated the methicillin-resistant macrococcus caseolyticus strain jcsc5402 from animal meat in a supermarket and determined its whole-genome nucleotide sequence. this is the first report on the genome analysis of a macrococcal species that is evolutionarily closely related to the human pathogens staphylococcus aureus and bacillus anthracis. the essential biological pathways of m. caseolyticus are similar to those of staphylococci. however, the species has a small chromosome (2.1 mb) and lack ... | 2009 | 19074389 |
| the bacillus anthracis protein mprf is required for synthesis of lysylphosphatidylglycerols and for resistance to cationic antimicrobial peptides. | during inhalational anthrax, bacillus anthracis survives and replicates in alveolar macrophages, followed by rapid invasion into the host's bloodstream, where it multiplies to cause heavy bacteremia. b. anthracis must therefore defend itself from host immune functions encountered during both the intracellular and the extracellular stages of anthrax infection. in both of these niches, cationic antimicrobial peptides are an essential component of the host's innate immune response that targets b. a ... | 2009 | 19074395 |
| the spore-specific alanine racemase of bacillus anthracis and its role in suppressing germination during spore development. | spores of bacillus anthracis are enclosed by an exosporium composed of a basal layer and an external hair-like nap. the nap is apparently formed by a single glycoprotein, while the basal layer contains many different structural proteins and several enzymes. one of the enzymes is alr, an alanine racemase capable of converting the spore germinant l-alanine to the germination inhibitor d-alanine. unlike other characterized exosporium proteins, alr is nonuniformly distributed in the exosporium and m ... | 2009 | 19074397 |
| efficient neutralization of antibody-resistant forms of anthrax toxin by a soluble receptor decoy inhibitor. | a soluble receptor decoy inhibitor (rdi), comprised of the extracellular i domain of antxr2, is a candidate anthrax therapeutic. here we show that rdi can effectively neutralize altered forms of the protective antigen toxin subunit that are resistant to 14b7 monoclonal antibody neutralization. these data highlight the potential of rdi to act as an adjunct to existing antibody-based therapies and indicate that inhibitors based on rdi might be useful as a stand-alone treatment against specifically ... | 2009 | 19075066 |
| 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 |
| functional expression of bacillus anthracis protective antigen in e. coli. | the protective antigen (pa) of bacillus anthracis is a potent immunogen and an important candidate vaccine. in addition, it is used in monitoring systems like enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to assess antibodies against pa in immunized subjects. the low level of pa production in b. anthracis and the difficulty of separating it from other bacterial components have made the researchers do different studies with the aim of producing recombinant pa (rpa). in this study, to produce rpa as a recombi ... | 2009 | 18654743 |
| preliminary development of dna aptamer-fc conjugate opsonins. | encapsulated bacteria such as virulent strains of bacillus anthracis impair phagocytosis with their capsules unless opsonized by antibodies. poly-gamma-d-glutamic acid (gamma-pdga) is the major component of the b. anthracis capsule. in this work, poly-alpha-d-glutamic acid (alpha-pdga)-coated magnetic beads (mbs) were used as surrogates to simulate vegetative b. anthracis cells and avoid the hazards of working with virulent bacteria. dna aptamers were developed against the alpha-linked pdga-mbs ... | 2009 | 18671260 |
| non-canonical effects of anthrax toxins on haematopoiesis: implications for vaccine development. | anthrax receptor (atr) shares similarities with molecules relevant to haematopoiesis. this suggests that anthrax proteins might bind to these mimicking molecules and exert non-specific haematopoietic effects. the haematopoietic system is the site of immune cell development in the adult. as such, atr ligand, protective antigen (pa) and the other anthrax proteins, lethal factor, edema factor, could be significant to haematopoietic responses against bacillus anthracis infection. because haematopoie ... | 2009 | 18752638 |
| rapid detection of bacillus anthracis using monoclonal antibody functionalized qcm sensor. | since the anthrax spore bioterrorism attacks in america in 2001, the early detection of bacillus anthracis spores and vegetative cells has gained significant interest. at present, many polyclonal antibody-based quartz crystal microbalance (qcm) sensors have been developed to detect b. anthracis simulates. to achieve a simultaneous rapid detection of b. anthracis spores and vegetative cells, this paper presents a biosensor that utilizes an anti-b. anthracis monoclonal antibody designated to 8g3 ( ... | 2009 | 18804365 |
| computational insights into the interaction of the anthrax lethal factor with the n-terminal region of its substrates. | the anthrax lethal factor is a zinc metalloprotease toxin secreted by bacillus anthracis which cleaves at the n-terminal region of six mitogen activated protein kinase kinases (meks) in the cell. additionally, it is known to cleave a nine residue peptide "lf10," 50-fold more efficiently than nine residues of mek1. there is very little sequence similarity between the mek n-termini, thus, it is unclear how the lethal factor can accommodate and cleave the diverse n-termini of the meks and whether t ... | 2009 | 18831046 |
| electrically active polyaniline coated magnetic (eapm) nanoparticle as novel transducer in biosensor for detection of bacillus anthracis spores in food samples. | electrically active polyaniline coated magnetic (eapm) nanoparticle-based biosensor has been developed for the detection of bacillus anthracis endospores in contaminated food samples. the 100 nm-diameter eapm nanoparticles are synthesized from aniline monomer (made electrically active by acid doping) coating the surface of gamma iron oxide cores. the magnetic, electrical, and structural characteristics of the synthesized eapm nanoparticles have been studied using superconducting quantum interfer ... | 2009 | 18823768 |
| evaluation of five commercial nucleic acid extraction kits for their ability to inactivate bacillus anthracis spores and comparison of dna yields from spores and spiked environmental samples. | this study evaluated five commercial extraction kits for their ability to recover dna from bacillus anthracis spores and spiked environmental samples. the kits evaluated represent the major types of methodologies which are commercially available for dna or total nucleic acid extraction, and included the chargeswitch gdna mini bacteria kit, nuclisens isolation kit, puregene genomic dna purification kit, qiaamp dna blood mini kit, and the ultraclean microbial dna isolation kit. extraction methods ... | 2009 | 18824041 |
| the behaviour of virulent bacillus anthracis strain ao843 in rabbits. | 2009 | 18650035 | |
| immune defence, parasite evasion strategies and their relevance for 'macroscopic phenomena' such as virulence. | the discussion of host-parasite interactions, and of parasite virulence more specifically, has so far, with a few exceptions, not focused much attention on the accumulating evidence that immune evasion by parasites is not only almost universal but also often linked to pathogenesis, i.e. the appearance of virulence. now, the immune evasion hypothesis offers a deeper insight into the evolution of virulence than previous hypotheses. sensitivity analysis for parasite fitness and life-history theory ... | 2009 | 18930879 |
| an essential dnab helicase of bacillus anthracis: identification, characterization, and mechanism of action. | we have described a novel essential replicative dna helicase from bacillus anthracis, the identification of its gene, and the elucidation of its enzymatic characteristics. anthrax dnab helicase (dnab(ba)) is a 453-amino-acid, 50-kda polypeptide with atpase and dna helicase activities. dnab(ba) displayed distinct enzymatic and kinetic properties. dnab(ba) has low single-stranded dna (ssdna)-dependent atpase activity but possesses a strong 5'-->3' dna helicase activity. the stimulation of atpase a ... | 2009 | 18931108 |
| a unique gtp-dependent sporulation sensor histidine kinase in bacillus anthracis. | the bacillus anthracis ba2291 gene codes for a sensor histidine kinase involved in the induction of sporulation. genes for orthologs of the sensor domain of the ba2291 kinase exist in virulence plasmids in this organism, and these proteins, when expressed, inhibit sporulation by converting ba2291 to an apparent phosphatase of the sporulation phosphorelay. evidence suggests that the sensor domains inhibit ba2291 by titrating its activating signal ligand. studies with purified ba2291 revealed that ... | 2009 | 18931112 |
| inactivation of rho gtpases by statins attenuates anthrax lethal toxin activity. | anthrax lethal factor (lf), secreted by bacillus anthracis, interacts with protective antigen to form a bipartite toxin (lethal toxin [lt]) that exerts pleiotropic biological effects resulting in subversion of the innate immune response. although the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinases (mkks) are the major intracellular protein targets of lf, the pathology induced by lt is not well understood. the statin family of hmg-coenzyme a reductase inhibitors have potent anti-inflammatory effects ind ... | 2009 | 18936176 |
| the cytoplasmic domain of anthrax toxin receptor 1 affects binding of the protective antigen. | the protective antigen (pa) component of anthrax toxin binds the i domain of the receptor antxr1. integrin i domains convert between open and closed conformations that bind ligand with high and low affinities, respectively; this process is regulated by signaling from the cytoplasmic domains. to assess whether intracellular signals might influence the interaction between antxr1 and pa, we compared two splice variants of antxr1 that differ only in their cytoplasmic domains. we found that cells exp ... | 2009 | 18936178 |
| the mechanism of bacillus anthracis intracellular germination requires multiple and highly diverse genetic loci. | in an effort to better understand the mechanisms by which bacillus anthracis establishes disease, experiments were undertaken to identify the genes essential for intracellular germination. eighteen diverse genetic loci were identified via an enrichment protocol using a transposon-mutated library of b. anthracis spores, which was screened for mutants delayed in intracellular germination. fourteen transposon mutants were identified in genes not previously associated with b. anthracis germination a ... | 2009 | 18936179 |
| 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 |
| [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 |
| 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 |
| [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 |
| a slippery slope. | 2009 | 20010640 | |
| primate study halted by us university. | 2009 | 20010657 | |
| animal research. rejection of anthrax study kicks up a dust storm in oklahoma. | 2009 | 20007868 | |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| dna vaccines for biodefense. | an ideal biodefense vaccine platform would allow for the quick formulation of novel vaccines in response to emerging or engineered pathogens. the resultant vaccine should elicit protective immune responses in one to three doses and be unaffected by pre-existing immunity to vaccine components. in addition, it should be amenable to combination and multi-agent formulation, and should be safe for all populations and the environment. dna vaccines can potentially meet all of these requirements; thus, ... | 2009 | 19943766 |
| 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 |
| examination of anthrax lethal factor inhibition by siderophores, small hydroxamates, and protamine. | based on their ability to chelate metals, hydroxamate molecules and siderophores have been successfully used as metalloenzyme inhibitors. as the anthrax toxin lethal factor (lf) is a zinc (zn)-metallopeptidase, an investigation of the ability of some small non-siderophore hydroxamate compounds, 5 hydroxamate-containing siderophores, and 1 catecholate siderophore was undertaken to determine whether these compounds would inhibit lf. in addition, salmon sperm protamine and ethylenediaminetetraaceti ... | 2009 | 19949750 |
| characterization of a bacillus subtilis transporter for petrobactin, an anthrax stealth siderophore. | iron deprivation activates the expression of components of the siderophore-mediated iron acquisition systems in bacillus subtilis, including not only the synthesis and uptake of its siderophore bacillibactin but also expression of multiple abc transporters for iron scavenging using xenosiderophores. the yclnopq operon is shown to encode the complete transporter for petrobactin (pb), a photoreactive 3,4-catecholate siderophore produced by many members of the b. cereus group, including b. anthraci ... | 2009 | 19955416 |
| anthrax toxin uptake by primary immune cells as determined with a lethal factor-beta-lactamase fusion protein. | to initiate infection, bacillus anthracis needs to overcome the host innate immune system. anthrax toxin, a major virulence factor of b. anthracis, impairs both the innate and adaptive immune systems and is important in the establishment of anthrax infections. | 2009 | 19956758 |
| lethal factor unfolding is the most force-dependent step of anthrax toxin translocation. | cellular compartmentalization requires machinery capable of translocating polypeptides across membranes. in many cases, transported proteins must first be unfolded by means of the proton motive force and/or atp hydrolysis. anthrax toxin, which is composed of a channel-forming protein and two substrate proteins, is an attractive model system to study translocation-coupled unfolding, because the applied driving force can be externally controlled and translocation can be monitored directly by using ... | 2009 | 19926859 |
| diagnosis and management of palpebral anthrax. | anthrax is an infectious disease that is not well known by ophthalmologists. in its cutaneous form, it may produce lesions of the eyelids. we report eight cases of palpebral anthrax. all patients presented with a black necrotic eschar and a tegumentary edema, with a history of contact with sick animals. the curative treatment was based on intravenous penicillin g in four cases and amoxicillin-clavulanic acid in the four other cases. the palpebral lesions resolved, leaving no clinical evidence of ... | 2009 | 19927487 |
| identification of novel non-hydroxamate anthrax toxin lethal factor inhibitors by topomeric searching, docking and scoring, and in vitro screening. | anthrax is an infectious disease caused by bacillus anthracis, a gram-positive, rod-shaped, anaerobic bacterium. the lethal factor (lf) enzyme is secreted by b. anthracis as part of a tripartite exotoxin and is chiefly responsible for anthrax-related cytotoxicity. as lf can remain in the system long after antibiotics have eradicated b. anthracis from the body, the preferred therapeutic modality would be the administration of antibiotics together with an effective lf inhibitor. although lf has ga ... | 2009 | 19928768 |
| surface-enhanced raman spectroscopic detection of a bacteria biomarker using gold nanoparticle immobilized substrates. | the development of ultrasensitive and rapid methods for the detection of dipicolinic acid (dpa), a biomarker for bacterial spores including bacillus anthracis, is increasingly important. this paper reports the results of an investigation of surface enhanced raman spectroscopy (sers) based ultrasensitive detection of dpa using a gold nanoparticle/polyvinylpyrrolidone/gold substrate (aunps/pvp/au). the strong sers effect of this substrate exploits the particle-particle and particle-substrate plasm ... | 2009 | 19928907 |
| 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 |
| [production and characteristics of monoclonal antibodies to the diphtheria toxin]. | monoclonal antibodies to the diphtheria toxin were produced without cross reactivity with the thermolabile toxin (lt) from escherichia coli; ricin; choleraic toxin; the sea, seb, see, sei, and seg toxins of staphylococcus; the lethal factor of the anthrax toxin; and the protective antigen of the anthrax toxin. a pair of antibodies for the quantitative determination of the diphtheria toxin in the sandwich variation of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (elisa) was chosen. the determination limit o ... | 2009 | 19915639 |
| detection of b. anthracis spores and vegetative cells with the same monoclonal antibodies. | bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax disease, could be used as a biothreat reagent. it is vital to develop a rapid, convenient method to detect b. anthracis. in the current study, three high affinity and specificity monoclonal antibodies (mabs, designated 8g3, 10c6 and 12f6) have been obtained using fully washed b. anthracis spores as an immunogen. these mabs, confirmed to direct against ea1 protein, can recognize the surface of b. anthracis spores and intact vegetative cells with ... | 2009 | 19915677 |
| liver abscess and sepsis with bacillus pantothenticus in an immunocompetent patient: a first case report. | bacillus species are aerobic, gram-positive, spore forming rods that are usually found in the soil, dust, streams, and other environmental sources. except for bacillus. anthracis (b. anthracis), most species display low virulence, and only rarely cause infections in hosts with weak or damaged immune systems. there are two case reports of b. cereus as a potentially serious bacterial pathogen causing a liver abscess in an immunologically competent patient. we herein report a case of liver abscess ... | 2009 | 19908347 |
| three related cases of cutaneous anthrax in france: clinical and laboratory aspects. | anthrax is an acute bacterial infection caused by bacillus anthracis. the infection is cutaneous in about 95% of human cases and respiratory in about 5%. approximately 2000 cases of cutaneous anthrax are reported annually worldwide. this disease became exceptional in europe thanks to strict veterinarian monitoring. the last human cases of anthrax indicated in france were in 1997. we report 3 new related cases of naturally acquired cutaneous anthrax that occurred in france in 2008. the unique fea ... | 2009 | 19910752 |
| selective interactions of sugar-functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes with bacillus spores. | it was reported previously that monosaccharide-functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes (swnts) could interact with bacillus anthracis (sterne) spores with the mediation of a divalent cation such as ca(2+) to result in significant spore aggregation and reduction in colony forming units. in this work a more systematic investigation was performed on interactions of the swnts functionalized with individual mannose and galactose moieties and their various dendritic configurations with b. anthra ... | 2009 | 19911831 |
| differential staining of bacteria: endospore stain. | endospore production is a very important characteristic of some bacteria, allowing them to resist adverse environmental conditions such as desiccation, chemical exposure, extreme heat, radiation, etc. the identification of endospores is also very important for the clinical microbiologist who is analyzing a patient's body fluid or tissue-there are not that many spore-forming genera. in fact, there are two major pathogenic spore-forming genera, bacillus and clostridium, together causing a number o ... | 2009 | 19885937 |
| an antimicrobial guanidine-bearing sesterterpene from the cultured cyanobacterium scytonema sp. | scytoscalarol (1), a antimicrobial sesterterpene bearing a guanidino group, was isolated from the cultured cyanobacterium scytonema sp. (utex 1163) by bioassay-guided fractionation. the chemical structure was determined by spectroscopic analysis including ms and 1d and 2d nmr. scytoscalarol (1) showed antimicrobial activities against bacillus anthracis, staphylococcus aureus, escherichia coli, candida albicans, and mycobacterium tuberculosis with mic values in the range from 2 to 110 microm. | 2009 | 19888742 |
| onsite infectious agents and toxins monitoring in 12 may sichuan earthquake affected areas. | at 14:28 on 12 may 2008, sichuan province of china suffered a devastating earthquake measuring 8.0 on the richter scale with more than 80 000 human lives lost and millions displaced. with inadequate shelter, poor access to health services, and disrupted ecology, the survivors were at enormous risk of infectious disease outbreaks. this work, believed to be unprecedented, was carried out to contain a possible outbreak through onsite monitoring of airborne biological agents in the high-risk areas. ... | 2009 | 19890556 |
| measuring the effect of commuting on the performance of the bayesian aerosol release detector. | early detection of outdoor aerosol releases of anthrax is an important problem. the bayesian aerosol release detector (bard) is a system for detecting releases of aerosolized anthrax and characterizing them in terms of location, time and quantity. modelling a population's exposure to aerosolized anthrax poses a number of challenges. a major difficulty is to accurately estimate the exposure level--the number of inhaled anthrax spores--of each individual in the exposed region. partly, this difficu ... | 2009 | 19891801 |
| risk of importing zoonotic diseases through wildlife trade, united states. | the united states is the world's largest wildlife importer, and imported wild animals represent a potential source of zoonotic pathogens. using data on mammals imported during 2000-2005, we assessed their potential to host 27 selected risk zoonoses and created a risk assessment that could inform policy making for wildlife importation and zoonotic disease surveillance. a total of 246,772 mammals in 190 genera (68 families) were imported. the most widespread agents of risk zoonoses were rabies vir ... | 2009 | 19891857 |
| a semi-synthetic ion channel platform for detection of phosphatase and protease activity. | sensitive methods to probe the activity of enzymes are important for clinical assays and for elucidating the role of these proteins in complex biochemical networks. this paper describes a semi-synthetic ion channel platform for detecting the activity of two different classes of enzymes with high sensitivity. in the first case, this method uses single ion channel conductance measurements to follow the enzyme-catalyzed hydrolysis of a phosphate group attached to the c-terminus of gramicidin a (ga, ... | 2009 | 19860382 |
| immunologic response of unvaccinated workers exposed to anthrax, belgium. | to determine immunologic reactivity to bacillus anthrax antigens, we conducted serologic testing of workers in a factory that performed scouring of wool and goat hair. of 66 workers, approximately 10% had circulating antibodies or t lymphocytes that reacted with anthrax protective antigen. individual immunity varied from undetectable to high. | 2009 | 19861061 |
| identification of the channel-forming domain of clostridium perfringens epsilon-toxin (etx). | epsilon-toxin (etx) is a potent toxin produced by clostridium perfringens strains b and d. the bacteria are important pathogens in domestic animals and cause edema mediated by etx. this toxin acts most likely by heptamer formation and rapid permeabilization of target cell membranes for monovalent anions and cations followed by a later entry of calcium. in this study, we compared the primary structure of etx with that of the channel-forming stretches of a variety of binding components of a-b-type ... | 2009 | 19835840 |
| advances in the development of next-generation anthrax vaccines. | anthrax, a disease of herbivores, only rarely infects humans. however, the threat of using bacillus anthracis, the causative agent, to intentionally produce disease has been the impetus for development of next-generation vaccines. two licensed vaccines have been available for human use for several decades. these are composed of acellular culture supernatants containing the protective antigen (pa) component of the anthrax toxins. in this review we summarize the various approaches used to develop ... | 2009 | 19837282 |
| roles of the bacillus anthracis spore protein exsk in exosporium maturation and germination. | the bacillus anthracis spore is the causative agent of the disease anthrax. the outermost structure of the b. anthracis spore, the exosporium, is a shell composed of approximately 20 proteins. the function of the exosporium remains poorly understood and is an area of active investigation. in this study, we analyzed the previously identified but uncharacterized exosporium protein exsk. we found that, in contrast to other exosporium proteins, exsk is present in at least two distinct locations, i.e ... | 2009 | 19837802 |