Publications
| Title | Abstract | Year(sorted descending) Filter | PMID Filter |
|---|
| sporadic human anthrax in urban brisbane. | 1998 | 9775523 | |
| the medical threat of biological weapons. | there is a heightened threat of biological weapons being used for biological warfare or bioterrorism. many of the microorganisms and toxins that may be used as such biological weapons can easily be acquired and mass produced. dissemination of aerosols of these biological agents can produce mass casualties. if used by a terrorist they may overwhelm our current public health system. some biological agents, such as bacillus anthracis (anthrax) and botulinum toxin, are considered far more likely tha ... | 1998 | 9800098 |
| [scientific language in the general communication media]. | 1998 | 9803582 | |
| exoy, an adenylate cyclase secreted by the pseudomonas aeruginosa type iii system. | the exoenzyme s regulon is a set of coordinately regulated virulence genes of pseudomonas aeruginosa. proteins encoded by the regulon include a type iii secretion and translocation apparatus, regulators of gene expression, and effector proteins. the effector proteins include two enzymes with adp-ribosyltransferase activity (exos and exot) and an acute cytotoxin (exou). in this study, we identified exoy as a fourth effector protein of the regulon. exoy is homologous to the extracellular adenylate ... | 1998 | 9811898 |
| comparative studies of magnetic particle-based solid phase fluorogenic and electrochemiluminescent immunoassay. | two solid phase immunoassays, an electrochemiluminescent immunoassay (eclia) and a magnetic particle fluorogenic immunoassay (mpfia) were evaluated and compared for bacterial detection. briefly, the eclia is based on a redox reaction between ruthenium (ii)-trisbipyridyl ru[(bpy)3]2+ labeled antibody and the excess of tripropylamine, which generates photons. the entire reaction is carried on the near surface area between the spherical magnetic beads and an anode electrode. the detectable bacteria ... | 1998 | 9819118 |
| cutaneous anthrax associated with the kombucha "mushroom" in iran. | 1998 | 9820255 | |
| the pathology of experimental anthrax in rabbits exposed by inhalation and subcutaneous inoculation. | although rhesus monkeys are considered to be an appropriate model for inhalational anthrax in humans, an alternative for vaccine and therapeutic efficacy studies is desirable. this study characterized the pathology of lethal anthrax in rabbits challenged by subcutaneous inoculation and aerosol exposure. | 1998 | 9822127 |
| surgical management of cutaneous anthrax. | cutaneous anthrax in humans is a very rare disease caused by bacillus anthracis. humans become infected with this spore-forming bacterium when they come into contact with an infected animal. the disease usually develops on exposed sites like the hands and the face. the authors present 4 patients with cutaneous anthrax: 2 of the hands and 2 of the eyelids. all patients needed plastic surgical help via skin grafting after excision of the black eschar. no complications occurred after surgery. becau ... | 1998 | 9827947 |
| bacillus weihenstephanensis sp. nov. is a new psychrotolerant species of the bacillus cereus group. | the bacillus cereus group comprises the four valid species bacillus cereus, bacillus mycoides, bacillus thuringiensis and bacillus anthracis. some isolates of b. cereus are known to be psychrotolerant (growth at 7 degrees c or below). here, specific sequence differences are described between the 16s rdna, the 23s rdna, the 16s-23s rdna spacer region and the genes of the major cold-shock protein homologue cspa in a variety of psychrotolerant and mesophilic b. cereus and b. mycoides strains. rando ... | 1998 | 9828439 |
| characterization of membrane translocation by anthrax protective antigen. | solving the crystallographic structure of the ring-shaped heptamer formed by protective antigen (pa), the b moiety of anthrax toxin, has focused attention on understanding how this oligomer mediates membrane translocation of the toxin's a moieties. we have developed an assay for translocation in which radiolabeled ligands are bound to proteolytically activated pa (pa63) at the surface of cho or l6 cells, and translocation across the plasma membrane is induced by lowering the ph. the cells are th ... | 1998 | 9843379 |
| development of internal controls for pcr detection of bacillus anthracis. | this work describes the development and evaluation of a multiplex polymerase chain reaction (pcr) for the detection of bacillus anthracis strains harbouring plasmid px02. the multiplex also incorporated an internal control (ic) to avoid false negative reactions. internal controls consisted of plasmids containing modified pcr target sequences, corresponding to the capc and ba813 genes of b. anthracis, which were then co-amplified with the original target sequences using the same set of amplimers. ... | 1998 | 9843654 |
| biological warfare: what happens if we are attacked? | 1998 | 9875006 | |
| facial cutaneous anthrax in a pregnant woman: a case report. | anthrax remains an uncommon, but worldwide problem, particularly in countries in which domestic animals and processing of animal by-products are an important part of the economy. the disease has received attention recently because of its potential for use in biologic warfare. in poland during the last 10 years, several human cases of cutaneous anthrax occurred. we report here a case of a pregnant woman with this disease. the lesion was atypical and in a potentially dangerous location since it wa ... | 1998 | 11103023 |
| [pathogenicity and diagnosis of bacillus anthracis]. | in poland cutaneous form of anthrax is occurring sporadically. most of these cases were recognized in the eastern part of the country adjacent to the eastern border (lomza region and others). the latest literature on epidemiology, diagnosis, prevention and treatment of anthrax is reviewed in order to spread modern views on anthrax and to implement changes in the diagnostic methods of anthrax in poland. | 1998 | 9919922 |
| us anthrax-vaccine producer saved for now. | 1998 | 9500344 | |
| fermentation, purification, and characterization of protective antigen from a recombinant, avirulent strain of bacillus anthracis. | bacillus anthracis, the etiologic agent for anthrax, produces two bipartite, ab-type exotoxins, edema toxin and lethal toxin. the b subunit of both exotoxins is an m(r) 83,000 protein termed protective antigen (pa). the human anthrax vaccine currently licensed for use in the united states consists primarily of this protein adsorbed onto aluminum oxyhydroxide. this report describes the production of pa from a recombinant, asporogenic, nontoxigenic, and nonencapsulated host strain of b. anthracis ... | 1998 | 9501438 |
| anthrax as a potential biological warfare agent. | anthrax is a zoonotic illness recognized since antiquity. today, human anthrax has been all but eradicated from the industrialized world, with the vast majority of practitioners in the united states unlikely to have seen a case. unfortunately, the disease remains endemic in many areas of the world, and anthrax poses a threat as a mass casualty-producing weapon if used in a biological warfare capacity. | 1998 | 9508220 |
| internalization of a bacillus anthracis protective antigen-c-myc fusion protein mediated by cell surface anti-c-myc antibodies. | anthrax toxin, secreted by bacillus anthracis, consists of protective antigen (pa) and either lethal factor (lf) or edema factor (ef). pa, the receptor-binding component of the toxin, translocates lf or ef into the cytosol, where the latter proteins exert their toxic effects. we hypothesized that anthrax toxin fusion proteins could be used to kill virus-infected cells and tumor cells, if pa could be redirected to unique receptors found only on these cells. | 1998 | 9508786 |
| identification of residues lining the anthrax protective antigen channel. | in its activated 63 kda form, the protective antigen (pa) component of anthrax toxin forms a heptameric prepore, which converts to a pore (channel) in endosomal membranes at low ph and mediates translocation of the toxin's enzymic moieties to the cytosol. it has been proposed that the prepore-to-pore conversion involves a conformational rearrangement of a disordered amphipathic loop (d2l2; residues 302-325), in which loops from the 7 protomers combine to form a transmembrane 14-stranded beta bar ... | 1998 | 9521715 |
| anthrax. | 1998 | 9526481 | |
| all troops sent to gulf should be randomised to receive anthrax vaccination or placebo. | 1998 | 9554917 | |
| proteolytic inactivation of map-kinase-kinase by anthrax lethal factor. | anthrax lethal toxin, produced by the bacterium bacillus anthracis, is the major cause of death in animals infected with anthrax. one component of this toxin, lethal factor (lf), is suspected to be a metalloprotease, but no physiological substrates have been identified. here it is shown that lf is a protease that cleaves the amino terminus of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinases 1 and 2 (mapkk1 and mapkk2) and that this cleavage inactivates mapkk1 and inhibits the mapk signal transduction pa ... | 1998 | 9563949 |
| lethal factor active-site mutations affect catalytic activity in vitro. | the lethal factor (lf) protein of bacillus anthracis lethal toxin contains the thermolysin-like active-site and zinc-binding consensus motif hexxh (k. r. klimpel, n. arora, and s. h. leppla, mol. microbiol. 13:1093-1100, 1994). lf is hypothesized to act as a zn2+ metalloprotease in the cytoplasm of macrophages, but no proteolytic activities have been previously shown on any target substrate. here, synthetic peptides are hydrolyzed by lf in vitro. mass spectroscopy and peptide sequencing of isola ... | 1998 | 9573135 |
| new clue to how anthrax kills. | 1998 | 9599144 | |
| anthrax vaccine. | 1998 | 9599595 | |
| carbon dioxide as a regulator of gene expression in microorganisms. | co2 regulates gene expression across a diverse group of microorganisms including fungi, and both photosynthetic and non photosynthetic bacteria. the processes that co2 regulates are diverse. several co2-responsive random promoter lacz fusions of unknown function have been isolated from a marine synechococcus and a pseudoalteromonas sp., highlighting the wide effect of co2 control in these organisms. regulatory proteins have been described that mediate the co2 response at transcription level in b ... | 1998 | 9602281 |
| cyclosporine induced autoimmunity in newborns prevented by early immunization. | it has been shown in animal toxicity models that administration of cyclosporine, csa, to a pregnant mouse greatly increases the risk that the offspring will develop autoimmunity. immunization starting at birth has been shown to prevent autoimmunity in other animal models of autoimmunity and early immunization is associated with the prevention of diabetes in humans. experiments were performed to see if early immunization could also prevent csa induced autoimmunity. mice were injected with csa dur ... | 1998 | 9609130 |
| construction of phylogenetic tree based on g + c contents in dna and 16s rrna sequences: example for group 1 of genus bacillus. | the applicability of the g + c content in dna in the construction of phylogenetic tree was studied. the group 1 of the genus bacillus was selected as an object for study. statistically reliable correlation between evolutionary distances of 16s rrna sequences (ei) and parameter pi named as "gc evolutionary distance" was shown. the value of pi is the difference between the g + c content in dna of two species branching from one phylogenetic line. the coefficient of correlation between ei and pi equ ... | 1998 | 9621692 |
| protective efficacy of a recombinant protective antigen against bacillus anthracis challenge and assessment of immunological markers. | the efficacy of recombinant bacillus anthracis protective antigen (rpa) produced in bacillus subtilis and formulated in alhydrogel or mpl-tdm-cws (ribi adjuvant) has been tested and compared to the licensed uk human vaccine in guinea pigs challenged by the aerosol route with the ames strain of b. anthracis. rpa combined with the ribi adjuvant was found to be the only formulation to provide 100% protection from challenge. analysis of immunological parameters in the individual animals revealed sig ... | 1998 | 9627938 |
| a heat-inducible bacillus subtilis bacteriophage phi 105 expression system for the production of the protective antigen of bacillus anthracis. | the protective antigen of bacillus anthracis is the major protective immunogen in the current human vaccine. a heat-inducible protective antigen expression system was constructed based on a derivative of bacillus subtilis phage phi 105. the recombinant protein produced by this system protected immunised animals against challenge with spores of b. anthracis. gene instability and protease activity of the host strain contributed to the low level of recoverable protein in culture supernatant (approx ... | 1998 | 9631544 |
| study of immunization against anthrax with the purified recombinant protective antigen of bacillus anthracis. | protective antigen (pa) of anthrax toxin is the major component of human anthrax vaccine. currently available human vaccines in the united states and europe consist of alum-precipitated supernatant material from cultures of toxigenic, nonencapsulated strains of bacillus anthracis. immunization with these vaccines requires several boosters and occasionally causes local pain and edema. we previously described the biological activity of a nontoxic mutant of pa expressed in bacillus subtilis. in the ... | 1998 | 9632621 |
| airborne movement of anthrax spores from carcass sites in the etosha national park, namibia. | tests for airborne movement of anthrax spores downwind from three heavily contaminated carcass sites were carried out under a range of wind conditions. anthrax spores were detected in just three of 43 cyclone or gelatin filter air samples taken at distances of 6, 12 and 18 m from the sites. in addition, nine positives resulted during sampling sessions in which the site was mechanically disturbed, with a further five positives being found in sessions subsequent to those in which the site had been ... | 1998 | 9633664 |
| anthrax pathogenesis and host response. | 1998 | 9386326 | |
| the capsule and s-layer: two independent and yet compatible macromolecular structures in bacillus anthracis. | bacillus anthracis, the etiological agent of anthrax, is a gram-positive spore-forming bacterium. fully virulent bacilli are toxinogenic and capsulated. two abundant surface proteins, including the major antigen, are components of the b. anthracis surface layer (s-layer). the b. anthracis paracrystalline s-layer has previously only been found in noncapsulated vegetative cells. here we report that the s-layer proteins are also synthesized under conditions where the poly-gamma-d-glutamic acid caps ... | 1998 | 9422592 |
| pcr analysis of tissue samples from the 1979 sverdlovsk anthrax victims: the presence of multiple bacillus anthracis strains in different victims. | an outbreak of human anthrax occurred in sverdlovsk, union of soviet socialists republic (now ekaterinburg, russia) in april 1979. officials attributed this to consumption of contaminated meat, but western governments believed it resulted from inhalation of spores accidentally released from a nearby military research facility. tissue samples from 11 victims were obtained and methods of efficiently extracting high-quality total dna from these samples were developed. extracted dna was analyzed by ... | 1998 | 9448313 |
| anthrax toxin-mediated delivery in vivo and in vitro of a cytotoxic t-lymphocyte epitope from ovalbumin. | we reported earlier that a nontoxic form of anthrax toxin was capable of delivering a cytotoxic t-lymphocyte (ctl) epitope in vivo, such that a specific ctl response was primed against the epitope. the epitope, of bacterial origin, was fused to an n-terminal fragment (lfn) from the lethal-factor component of the toxin, and the fusion protein was injected, together with the protective antigen (pa) component, into balb/c mice. here we report that pa plus lfn is capable of delivering a different ep ... | 1998 | 9453617 |
| expression and purification of the recombinant lethal factor of bacillus anthracis. | the structural gene for the 90-kda lethal factor (lf) isolated from bacillus anthracis was expressed as a fusion protein with six histidine residues in escherichia coli. expression of lf in e. coli under the transcriptional regulation of the t5 promoter yielded a soluble cytosolic protein with an apparent molecular mass of 90 kda, as determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. recombinant lf reacted with anti-lf antibodies. the protein was purified to homogeneity by ... | 1998 | 9453657 |
| cutaneous manifestations of anthrax in rural haiti. | in industrialized countries, the zoonotic disease anthrax has been virtually eradicated because of effective public health measures including animal vaccination and quality control of animal products. in developing parts of the world, however, anthrax remains an occupational hazard of herdsmen and workers who have direct contact with infected animals or who process animal hides, hair, bone and bone products, and wool. for clinicians unfamiliar with this interesting infectious disease, the major ... | 1998 | 9455516 |
| military stays in bosnia; vaccinates for anthrax. | 1998 | 9450696 | |
| production and purification of recombinant protective antigen and protective efficacy against bacillus anthracis. | recombinant protective antigen (rpa), expressed by bacillus subtilis wb600 (ppa 101), has been purified to homogeneity and the protective efficacy against a bacillus anthracis challenge has been investigated. rpa was fractionated from culture supernatant fluid by ammonium sulphate, followed by anion exchange chromatography using deae streamline, anion-exchange chromatography on fplc monoq hr 10/10 and finally, gel filtration chromatography on fplc superose 12 hr 10/30, to yield 7 mg rpa per litr ... | 1998 | 9489035 |
| [pulmonary anthrax]. | anthrax is a zoonotic disease caused by bacillus anthracis. skin disease is the most common form in humans. pulmonary anthrax related to the inhalation of airborne germs develops after a silent incubation period of several days and followed by acute respiratory distress. diagnosis is a difficult task and generally based on demonstration of bacillus anthracis on direct examination. despite the sensitivity of b. anthracis to penicillin, treatment is rarely successful. | 1998 | 10100352 |
| interaction with a lipid membrane: a key step in bacterial toxins virulence. | bacterial toxins are secreted as soluble proteins. however, they have to interact with a cell lipid membrane either to permeabilize the cells (pore forming toxins) or to enter into the cytosol to express their enzymatic activity (translocation toxins). the aim of this review is to suggest that the strategies developed by toxins to insert in a lipid membrane is mediated by their structure. two categories, which contains both pore forming and translocation toxins, are emerging: alpha helical prote ... | 1997 | 9493052 |
| ventricular shunt infection and meningitis due to bacillus cereus. | non-anthrax bacillus species are usually considered to be contaminants if found in clinical specimens. only a few patients with systemic infections due to bacillus cereus are reported. we present the case of a 18-month old boy with a primitive neuroectodermal tumor (pnet) in the brainstem and obstructive hydrocephalus that required an outlying and subsequently a ventriculoperitoneal drain. following contamination at the site of entry of the external drain, shunt infection and meningitis with bac ... | 1997 | 9453032 |
| fatal meningoencephalitis due to bacillus anthracis. | we report the first case of fatal anthrax meningoencephalitis in hong kong over the past 60 years. a 13 year-old boy presented with right lower quadrant pain, diarrhoea and progressive headache. lumbar puncture yielded gram positive bacilli initially thought to be bacillus cereus, a contaminant. he was treated with ampicillin and cefotaxime, but died 3 days after hospitalization. the organism isolated from blood and cerebrospinal fluid was later identified as bacillus anthracis. | 1997 | 9484689 |
| site directed mutagenesis of histidine residues in anthrax toxin lethal factor binding domain reduces toxicity. | anthrax lethal toxin is a mixture of protective antigen (pa, 735 aa) and lethal factor (lf, 776 aa). earlier studies have shown that 254 residues of lethal factor are sufficient for pa binding to cause internalization (arora n and leppla sh, j biol chem 268: 3334-3342, 1993). the present study was undertaken to determine residues which are important for binding of lf to pa. lf modification with diethyl pyrocarbonate (depc, modifies histidine residue primarily) results in the loss of binding and ... | 1997 | 9450639 |
| anthrax lethal toxin-induced mitogenic response of human t-cells. | bacillus anthracis lethal toxin (palf) stimulated the proliferation of human peripheral blood t-cells in vitro. activation of t-lymphocytes by palf required the presence of monocytes and did not result from a collaborative effect between t-cells and b-cells. palf acted directly on monocytes and independently of t-cells. the monocytes contributed to the proliferation of t-cells by secretion of mediator(s). the mitogenic activity of the lethal toxin was dependent on its metalloprotease activity. | 1997 | 9435110 |
| passive protection by polyclonal antibodies against bacillus anthracis infection in guinea pigs. | the protective effects of polyclonal antisera produced by injecting guinea pigs with protective antigen (pa), the chemical anthrax vaccine ava, or sterne spore vaccine, as well as those of toxin-neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (mabs) produced against pa, lethal factor, and edema factor, were examined in animals infected with bacillus anthracis spores. only the anti-pa polyclonal serum significantly protected the guinea pigs from death, with 67% of infected animals surviving. although none of ... | 1997 | 9393812 |
| structure and interaction of pa63 and ef (edema toxin) of bacillus anthracis with lipid membrane. | the secondary structures of the two components of the bacillus anthracis edema toxin, protective antigen (pa63) and edema factor (ef), as well as the two ef mutants: cya30 (containing the n-terminal pa63-binding domain) and cya62 (containing the c-terminal catalytic domain) were investigated as a function of ph in the absence and in the presence of phospholipid vesicles using attenuated total reflection fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. secondary structures were independent of ph, whereas ... | 1997 | 9398214 |
| [a case of cutaneous anthrax in the lomza district]. | a case of anthrax is reported in 46 year old man. cases of anthrax in animals and human beings are rare in poland and therefore the diagnosis of the disease can be difficult. | 1997 | 9411503 |
| expression of cereolysine ab genes in bacillus anthracis vaccine strain ensures protection against experimental hemolytic anthrax infection. | the cereolysin ab genes from bacillus cereus vkm-b164 have been expressed in bacillus anthracis strains: virulent h-7 (pxo1, pxo2), vaccine sti-1 (pxo1), 221 (without its own plasmids). expression was achieved by cloning the genes in a high copy number plasmid pe194. this construct was integrated with host genomes in amplified form. gold hamsters were vaccinated with parental and recombinant b. anthracis sti-1 and 221 strains and challenged with virulent ones subcutaneously. gold hamsters vaccin ... | 1997 | 9413092 |
| the public science of louis pasteur: the experiment on anthrax vaccine in the popular press of the time. | the paper focuses on pasteur's public experimentation of the anthrax vaccine (pouilly-le-fort, 1881) as portrayed in the english and french popular press of the time. it is argued that this 'popular' level of representation did not merely provide additional publicity for pasteur's ideas. rather, the nature and meaning of the experiment itself and of the related controversy on immunisation were substantially negotiated and shaped within the public arena. the multifold consequences of this framing ... | 1997 | 9646725 |
| [current status of anthrax or black fever]. | although anthrax is one of the oldest recognized infectious diseases in the world, it remains widespread particularly in tropical zones such as africa. the impact of this major zoonoses is further enhanced by the fact that the pulmonary form can be used for biological warfare. recently there has been a revival of interest in anthrax and research has benefited greatly from advances in molecular biology. the main factors accounting for the virulence of bacillus anthracis have been elucidated. the ... | 1997 | 9513179 |
| re: multiple vaccination. | 1997 | 9519681 | |
| anthrax post-vaccinal cell-mediated immunity in humans: kinetics pattern. | seven groups (2596 subjects) were vaccinated with a human live anthrax vaccine (hlav) by three different routes (scarification, subcutaneous and aerosol). the vaccinees were tested for anthrax cell-mediated immunity using the "anthraxin" skin test at 7, 15, 30, 90, 180 and 365 days following vaccination. the kinetic pattern obtained from all groups, shows a significant, five-phased curve: phase i (2-6 days post-vaccination) shows a slow increase in positive anthraxin skin reactions. phase ii (7- ... | 1997 | 9178463 |
| acute abdomen due to anthrax. | 1997 | 9189095 | |
| drainage a factor in anthrax outbreak. | 1997 | 9196812 | |
| regulation of anthrax toxin activator gene (atxa) expression in bacillus anthracis: temperature, not co2/bicarbonate, affects atxa synthesis. | anthrax toxin gene expression in bacillus anthracis is dependent on the presence of atxa, a trans-acting regulatory gene located on the resident 185-kb plasmid pxo1. in atxa+ strains, expression of the toxin genes (pag, lef, and cya) is enhanced by two physiologically significant signals: elevated co2/bicarbonate and temperature. to determine whether increased toxin gene expression in response to these signals is associated with increased atxa expression, we monitored steady-state levels of atxa ... | 1997 | 9199422 |
| the economic impact of a bioterrorist attack: are prevention and postattack intervention programs justifiable? | understanding and quantifying the impact of a bioterrorist attack are essential in developing public health preparedness for such an attack. we constructed a model that compares the impact of three classic agents of biologic warfare (bacillus anthracis, brucella melitensis, and francisella tularensis) when released as aerosols in the suburb of a major city. the model shows that the economic impact of a bioterrorist attack can range from an estimated $477.7 million per 100,000 persons exposed (br ... | 1997 | 9204289 |
| anthrax meningoencephalitis: radiologic findings. | 1997 | 9207572 | |
| [the isolation of the surface antigen from vegetative cells of bacillus anthracis sti-1 and study of its protective properties]. | the method for the extraction of native surface protein antigen with a mol. wt. of 92 kd from vegetative cells of b.anthracis sti-1 and its purification was developed. the antigen was extracted with 3% sodium lauryl sarcosylate at 4 degrees c from bacterial mass previously treated with 0.1 m tris-hcl buffer solution, ph 8.0 purification was carried out by adsorption chromatography on hydroxylapatite. the isolated protein antigen with a mol. wt. of 92 kd was electrophoretically and immunochemical ... | 1997 | 9221667 |
| the anthrax toxin activator gene atxa is associated with co2-enhanced non-toxin gene expression in bacillus anthracis. | the bacillus anthracis toxin genes, cya, lef, and pag, can be viewed as a regulon, in which transcription of all three genes is activated in trans by the same regulatory gene, atxa, in response to the same signal, co2. in atxa+ strains, toxin gene expression is increased 5- to 20-fold in cells grown in 5% co2 relative to cells grown in air. co2-enhanced toxin gene transcription is not observed in atx4-null mutants. here, we used two independent techniques to obtain evidence for additional co2-in ... | 1997 | 9234759 |
| a role for pace4 in the proteolytic activation of anthrax toxin protective antigen. | several bacterial protein toxins require activation by eukaryotic proteases. previous studies have shown that anthrax toxin protective antigen (pa), pseudomonas exotoxin a (pe), and diphtheria toxin (dt) are cleaved by furin c-terminal to the sequences rkkr, rqpr, and rvrr, respectively. because furin-deficient cells retain some sensitivity to pa and dt, it is evident that other cellular proteases can activate these toxins. whereas furin has been shown to require arginine residues at positions - ... | 1997 | 9234799 |
| [necrotic chin lesion in a patient with a meningeal syndrome]. | 1997 | 9235059 | |
| clinical recognition and management of patients exposed to biological warfare agents. | concern regarding the use of biological agents--bacteria, viruses, or toxins--as tools of warfare or terrorism has led to measures to deter their use or, failing that, to deal with the consequences. unlike chemical agents, which typically lead to violent disease syndromes within minutes at the site of exposure, diseases resulting from biological agents have incubation periods of days. therefore, rather than a paramedic, it will likely be a physician who is first faced with evidence of the result ... | 1997 | 9244332 |
| iraq's biological weapons. the past as future? | between 1985 and april 1991, iraq developed anthrax, botulinum toxin, and aflatoxin for biological warfare; 200 bombs and 25 ballistic missiles laden with biological agents were deployed by the time operation desert storm occurred. although cause for concern, if used during the persian gulf war, iraq's biological warfare arsenal probably would have been militarily ineffective for 3 reasons: (1) it was small; (2) payload dispersal mechanisms were inefficient; and (3) coalition forces dominated th ... | 1997 | 9244334 |
| the agents of biological warfare. | 1997 | 9244340 | |
| membrane insertion: the strategies of toxins (review). | protein toxins are soluble molecules secreted by pathogenic bacteria which act at the plasma membrane or in the cytoplasm of target cells. they must therefore interact with a membrane at some point, either to modify its permeability properties or to reach the cytoplasm. as a consequence, toxins have the built-in capacity to adopt two generally incompatible states: water-soluble and transmembrane. irrespective of their origin or function, the membrane interacting domain of most protein toxins see ... | 1997 | 9253764 |
| molecular biology of s-layers. | in this chapter we report on the molecular biology of crystalline surface layers of different bacterial groups. the limited information indicates that there are many variations on a common theme. sequence variety, antigenic diversity, gene expression, rearrangements, influence of environmental factors and applied aspects are addressed. there is considerable variety in the s-layer composition, which was elucidated by sequence analysis of the corresponding genes. in corynebacterium glutamicum one ... | 1997 | 9276928 |
| [molecular mechanisms underlying bacillus anthracis infection at early stages and search for novel vaccines]. | the developmental mechanisms of anthrax immunity were studied. immunization was found to generally generate specific antibodies and lysozyme. collectively, all the factors are responsible for suppressing the development of spores in the body. this proves the fact that the immunity is directed not only towards the exotoxin of b. anthracis, but it affects mainly the formation of vegetative cells. on entering the immuned body, vegetative cells may cause b. anthracis infection because antitoxic anti ... | 1997 | 9289272 |
| [elucidation of functionally active domains in molecules of protective antigen bacillus anthracis's toxin]. | limited proteolysis has established that the protective antigen (pa) molecule consists of four functional-active domains. so, the shielding domain borrows an area in the linear structure of the pa molecule with nh2 of the end up to lys 166 and plays a conducting role in the proteolytic activation of pa. the associative domain, engaging in the area arg 167-met266, plays a key role in the interaction with lf or ef at self-assembly toxic complexes lt or et. the stabilizing domain borrows in the lin ... | 1997 | 9289273 |
| delivery of antigens to the mhc class i pathway using bacterial toxins. | cytotoxic t lymphocytes (ctl) recognize antigens derived from endogenously expressed proteins presented on the cell surface in the context of major histocompatibility complex (mhc) class i molecules. because ctl are effective in antiviral and antitumor responses, the delivery of antigens to the class i pathway has been the focus of numerous efforts. generating ctl by immunization with exogenous proteins is often ineffective because these antigens typically enter the mhc class ii pathway. this re ... | 1997 | 9297531 |
| experimentally assessed public health risks associated with pigs from farms experiencing anthrax. | following an outbreak of anthrax in an intensive pig rearing unit in north wales in 1989 a study was initiated by the ministry of agriculture, fisheries and food to assess public health risks during such an outbreak. of 50 pigs infected by the addition of bacillus anthracis spores to their feed, two died of anthrax six and eight days later. the remainder were observed for 21 days and exhibited only mild and transient clinical signs of disease. as judged by the results of bacteriological culture ... | 1997 | 9308148 |
| diagnosis: cutaneous anthrax. | 1997 | 9314446 | |
| animal health risks associated with the transportation and utilisation of wildlife products. | the animal health risks associated with the movement of wildlife products are infinitely less than those associated with the movement of live animals. very few pathogens are sufficiently robust to survive the significant changes in temperature, ph, moisture content and osmolality which occur post mortem, or which are associated with preservation processes such as pickling, smoking or drying. certain pathogens, however, (e.g. foot and mouth disease, classical swine fever [hog cholera] and african ... | 1997 | 9329110 |
| animal health risks associated with ostrich products. | five diseases recorded in ostriches are regarded as posing a potential animal health threat to meat-importing countries. newcastle disease causes an atypically low mortality in ostriches: infected birds display typical nervous symptoms but no pathognomonic lesions which could be detected during post-mortem inspection. the vaccination of feedlot birds and a thorough ante-mortem examination are regarded as necessary precautions to ensure virus carriers are not among those animals destined for slau ... | 1997 | 9329111 |
| targeting hiv proteins to the major histocompatibility complex class i processing pathway with a novel gp120-anthrax toxin fusion protein. | a challenge for subunit vaccines whose goal is to elicit cd8(+) cytotoxic t lymphocytes (ctls) is to deliver the antigen to the cytosol of the living cell, where it can be processed for presentation by major histocompatibility complex (mhc) class i molecules. several bacterial toxins have evolved to efficiently deliver catalytic protein moieties to the cytosol of eukaryotic cells. anthrax lethal toxin consists of two distinct proteins that combine to form the active toxin. protective antigen (pa ... | 1997 | 9342362 |
| cytotoxicity of anthrax lethal factor microinjected into macrophage cells through sendai virus envelopes. | lethal toxin (lt) secreted by bacillus anthracis consists of two proteins, protective antigen (pa) and lethal factor (lf). lt causes lysis of macrophages and derived cell lines at low concentrations. pa binds to the cell surface receptors and mediates translocation of lf into cytosol of mammalian cells. internalization of lf into cytosol by osmotic lysis of pinocytic vesicles requires high concentration of lf for cell lysis. to examine the possible cell lysis by lf at low concentration, we intro ... | 1997 | 9343949 |
| the "anthrax" of two byzantine emperors: constantine v (741-775) and leo iv (775-780). | 1997 | 9352419 | |
| admission on gulf war vaccines spurs debate on medical records. | 1997 | 9363878 | |
| anthrax as the cause of preseptal cellulitis. | anthrax is an infectious disease caused by bacillus anthracis. it is primarily a disease of domestic animals such as cattle, goats, and sheep; but humans can rarely be infected by contact with infected animals or contaminated animal products. our case is a 4-year-old boy who was initially diagnosed as preseptal cellulitis, but later he showed the characteristic anthrax lesions with a black necrotic eschar. scrapings from the necrotic tissue showed gram positive rods and culture grew bacillus ant ... | 1997 | 9374261 |
| extraordinary case report: cutaneous anthrax. | anthrax is a very rare disease in the united kingdom. it is caused by the spore-forming bacterium bacillus anthracis. humans become infected when they come into contact with infected animals or their products. cutaneous anthrax, the most common form of the disease, accounts for 95% of cases, and the disease usually developing on exposed sites. we present a patient who developed cutaneous disease after exposure to untreated leather. owing to the initial clinical information, the biopsy specimen w ... | 1997 | 9056659 |
| recent advances in capillary electrophoresis of dna fragments and pcr products. | 1997 | 9056882 | |
| pyrolysis mass spectrometry studies on bacillus anthracis, bacillus cereus and their close relatives. | pyrolysis mass spectrometry was used to examine strains of b. anthracis, of b. cereus, of b.cereus either proven to cause emetic illness or connected with outbreaks of emetic food poisoning and of b.thuringiensis. analysis of the data-set for all strains allowed differentiation between b.anthracis, the emetic b.cereus and b.thuringiensis but b.cereus strains could not be clearly discriminated. removal of data for the b.thuringiensis and the emetic b.cereus strains, followed by re-analysis, allow ... | 1997 | 9060166 |
| a case of human anthrax in victoria. | a human case of anthrax was identified through surveillance of knackery workers who had been exposed to infected cattle. the outbreak in cattle has affected 38 herds in the stanhope/tatura area of central northern victoria. the human case, a 39 year old male, was treated in hospital and is recovering. surveillance of other knackery workers has now been completed, and no other cases were found. public health measures are in place to prevent further human cases. | 1997 | 9079594 |
| more than one way to make a hole. | 1997 | 9095187 | |
| anthrax pneumonia. | inhalation anthrax is a rare and almost uniformly fatal form of human anthrax caused by the inhalation of spores of bacillus anthracis. a clue to the diagnosis is provided by taking a work history which will disclose patient exposure to contaminated animal products, most often animal hair and wool used in the textile industry. it is an illness with a biphasic course marked by the presence of a widened mediastinum on chest radiograph and often accompanied by hemorrhagic meningitis. the pathogenes ... | 1997 | 9097373 |
| characterization of the variable-number tandem repeats in vrra from different bacillus anthracis isolates. | pcr analysis of 198 bacillus anthracis isolates revealed a variable region of dna sequence differing in length among the isolates. five polymorphisms differed by the presence of two to six copies of the 12-bp tandem repeat 5'-caatatcaacaa-3'. this variable-number tandem repeat (vntr) region is located within a larger sequence containing one complete open reading frame that encodes a putative 30-kda protein. length variation did not change the reading frame of the encoded protein and only changed ... | 1997 | 9097438 |
| molecular characterization of the bacillus anthracis main s-layer component: evidence that it is the major cell-associated antigen. | bacillus anthracis, the aetiological agent of anthrax, is a gram-positive spore-forming bacterium. the cell wall of vegetative cells of b. anthracis is surrounded by an s-layer. an array remained when sap, a gene described as encoding an s-layer component, was deleted. the remaining s-layer component, termed ea1, is chromosomally encoded. the gene encoding ea1 (eag) was obtained on two overlapping fragments in escherichia coli and shown to be continuous to the sap gene. the ea1 amino acid sequen ... | 1997 | 9106206 |
| cross-talk to the genes for bacillus anthracis capsule synthesis by atxa, the gene encoding the trans-activator of anthrax toxin synthesis. | the two major virulence factors of bacillus anthracis are the tripartite toxin and the polyglutamate capsule, which are encoded by genes on the large plasmids, pxo1 and pxo2, respectively. the genes atxa, located on pxo1, and acpa, located on pxo2, encode positive trans-acting proteins that are involved in bicarbonate-mediated regulation of toxin and capsule production, respectively. a derivative strain cured of pxo1 produced less capsular substance than the parent strain harbouring both pxo1 an ... | 1997 | 9106214 |
| preparation for emergency relief after biological warfare. | upon invitation by the world health organization during the gulf war, a task force "scorpio" independent from the nations involved in the armed conflict was formed whose task was to determine whether, which and to what extent biological warfare agents had been used. risk assessment concluded that anthrax and clostridium botulinum toxin were the major risks. the 21 civilian experts had rapidly to decide on the doctrine of operation, to assemble material which could be used and to be immunized or ... | 1997 | 9138135 |
| penicillin resistance in bacillus anthracis. | 1997 | 9167471 | |
| a recombinant bacillus anthracis strain producing the clostridium perfringens ib component induces protection against iota toxins. | the bacillus anthracis toxinogenic sterne strain is currently used as a live veterinary vaccine against anthrax. the capacity of a toxin-deficient derivative strain to produce a heterologous antigen by using the strong inducible promoter of the b. anthracis pag gene was investigated. the expression of the foreign gene ibp, encoding the ib component of iota toxin from clostridium perfringens, was analyzed. a pag-ibp fusion was introduced by allelic exchange into a toxin-deficient sterne strain, t ... | 1997 | 9169728 |
| atxa activates the transcription of genes harbored by both bacillus anthracis virulence plasmids. | fully virulent bacillus anthracis bacilli are encapsulated and toxinogenic. these bacteria carry two plasmids, pxo1, and pxo2, encoding toxins and capsule synthetic-enzymes (capb, c, a, dep), respectively. the pxo1 plasmid strongly enhances capsule formation. this influence was studied by analysing the expression of a capb-lacz fusion in various backgrounds. the beta-galactosidase activities were similar in a delta atxa strain and a pxo1 cured strain. moreover, the capb-lacz expression level cou ... | 1997 | 9119194 |
| intracytoplasmic delivery of listeriolysin o by a vaccinal strain of bacillus anthracis induces cd8-mediated protection against listeria monocytogenes. | the facultative intracellular pathogen listeria monocytogenes secretes a 58-kda hemolysin, listeriolysin o (llo), that allows bacteria to access the cytoplasm and to multiply inside infected cells. llo is also a protective ag required for the development of specific immunity. we studied the capacity of a new bacterial vector, derived from an attenuated strain of bacillus anthracis, to deliver in vivo llo and to induce protection against l. monocytogenes infection. the hly gene encoding llo was f ... | 1997 | 9379042 |
| [anthrax: a malady of animals and of man which hides in the earth]. | anthrax is an infectious disease of herbivores, especially sheep and cattle, but also of horses, of pigs, of dogs, of wild animals and of humans. bacillus anthracis causes the disease. this bacterium needs plenty of oxygen to procreate and to produce resistant spores, which remains viable in the soil during 3.5 years, at times during 15-20 years. the author tries to follow step by step the evolution of the ideas concerning the origin and the pathology as well as of the veterinarians measures ag ... | 1997 | 11619781 |
| immunological and functional comparison between clostridium perfringens iota toxin, c. spiroforme toxin, and anthrax toxins. | clostridium perfringens iota and c. spiroforme toxins consist of two separate proteins. one is the binding component and the other the enzymatic component. the two toxins secreted by bacillus anthracis are composed of binary combinations of three proteins: protective antigen, lethal factor, and edema factor. as shown by western blotting and elisa, the binding component of anthrax toxin shares common epitopes with that of iota toxin and c. spiroforme toxin which are closely related immunologicall ... | 1997 | 8997715 |
| molecular evolution and diversity in bacillus anthracis as detected by amplified fragment length polymorphism markers. | bacillus anthracis causes anthrax and represents one of the most molecularly monomorphic bacteria known. we have used aflp (amplified fragment length polymorphism) dna markers to analyze 78 b. anthracis isolates and six related bacillus species for molecular variation. aflp markers are extremely sensitive to even small sequence variation, using pcr and high-resolution electrophoresis to examine restriction fragments. using this approach, we examined ca. 6.3% of the bacillus genome for length mut ... | 1997 | 9006038 |
| crystal structure of the anthrax toxin protective antigen. | protective antigen (pa) is the central component of the three-part protein toxin secreted by bacillus anthracis, the organism responsible for anthrax. after proteolytic activation on the host cell surface, pa forms a membrane-inserting heptamer that translocates the toxic enzymes, oedema factor and lethal factor, into the cytosol. pa, which has a relative molecular mass of 83,000 (m(r) 83k), can also translocate heterologous proteins, and is being evaluated for use as a general protein delivery ... | 1997 | 9039918 |
| the timing of immunization affects the development of diabetes in rodents. | insulin-dependant diabetes mellitus (iddm) is an autoimmune disease that can be altered by immune modulation. nod mice and bb rats have been used as models of spontaneous iddm. the development of diabetes in these animals has been altered by several different immune modulators using relatively high doses for the size of the animal. the effect of pharmaceutical doses of vaccines on the development of diabetes in these rodents has not been adequately studied. | 1996 | 9020406 |
| [detection of the functionally active domains in the molecule of protective antigen of the anthrax exotoxin]. | using the limited proteolysis method, we established that the protective antigen (pa) molecule consists of four functionally active domains. the shielding domain occupies an area in the linear structure of the molecule pa with nh4-terminal up to lys166 and plays an important role in the proteolytic activation of pa. the associative domain situated in the arg167-met266 region is responsible for interactions with either lethal or edematous factors in self-assembly of the toxic complexes of the let ... | 1996 | 8999312 |