| 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 |
| grease, anthraxgate, and kennel cough: a revisionist history of early veterinary vaccines. | in conclusion, it is remarkable just how farsighted many of the early vaccine investigators were. jenner was apparently very comfortable with contagion and even recognized that infectious agents could gradually change and adapt to a new species. pasteur, long before his fowl cholera experiment, dreamed that attenuation could yield safe vaccines and it took him no time at all therefore to recognize the significance of that serendipitous experiment. the fact that two other investigators were also ... | 1999 | 9890006 |
| vaccination against anthrax with attenuated recombinant strains of bacillus anthracis that produce protective antigen. | the protective efficacy of several live, recombinant anthrax vaccines given in a single-dose regimen was assessed with hartley guinea pigs. these live vaccines were created by transforming deltaanr and deltasterne, two nonencapsulated, nontoxinogenic strains of bacillus anthracis, with four different recombinant plasmids that express the anthrax protective antigen (pa) protein to various degrees. this enabled us to assess the effect of the chromosomal background of the strain, as well as the amo ... | 1999 | 9916059 |
| functional analysis of the carboxy-terminal domain of bacillus anthracis protective antigen. | protective antigen (pa) is the common receptor-binding component of the two anthrax toxins. we investigated the involvement of the pa carboxy-terminal domain in the interaction of the protein with cells. a deletion resulting in removal of the entire carboxy-terminal domain of pa (pa608) or part of an exposed loop of 19 amino acids (703 to 722) present within this domain was introduced into the pag gene. pa608 did not induce the lethal-factor (lf)-mediated cytotoxic effect on macrophages because ... | 1999 | 9916116 |
| [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 |
| liquid chromatography/microspray mass spectrometry for bacterial investigations. | cellular proteins (biomarkers) specific to any individual microorganism, determined by the direct mass spectral analysis of the corresponding intact cellular suspension, can be applied for the rapid and specific identification of the organisms present in unknown samples. the components of the bacterial suspensions, after a rapid separation over a c18 reversed-phase microcapillary column, were directly subjected to on-line electrospray ionization followed by analysis using an ion trap tandem mass ... | 1999 | 9921688 |
| germination of bacillus anthracis spores within alveolar macrophages. | the fatal character of the infection caused by inhalation of bacillus anthracis spores results from a complex pathogenic cycle involving the synthesis of toxins by the bacterium. we have shown using immunofluorescent staining, confocal scanning laser microscopy and image cytometry analysis that the alveolar macrophage was the primary site of b. anthracis germination in a murine inhalation infection model. bacillus anthracis germinated inside murine macrophage-like raw264.7 cells and murine alveo ... | 1999 | 9987105 |
| protection against anthrax toxin by vaccination with a dna plasmid encoding anthrax protective antigen. | a dna vaccine encoding the immunogenic and biologically active portion of anthrax protective antigen (pa) was constructed. spleen cells from balb/c mice immunized intramuscularly with this vaccine were stimulated to secrete ifn gamma and il-4 when exposed to pa in vitro. immunized mice also mounted a humoral immune response dominated by igg1 anti-pa antibody production, the subclass previously shown to confer protection against anthrax toxin. a 1:100 dilution of serum from these animals protecte ... | 1999 | 9987172 |
| bioterrorism alleging use of anthrax and interim guidelines for management--united states, 1998. | from october 30 through december 23, 1998, cdc received reports of a series of bioterroristic threats of anthrax exposure. letters alleged to contain anthrax were sent to health clinics on october 30, 1998, in indiana, kentucky, and tennessee. during december 17-23 in california, a letter alleged to contain anthrax was sent to a private business, and three telephone threats of anthrax contamination of ventilation systems were made to private and public buildings. all threats were hoaxes and are ... | 1999 | 10023627 |
| us military face punishment for refusing anthrax vaccine. | | 1999 | 10023914 |
| the looming threat of bioterrorism. | biological weapons have recently attracted the attention and the resources of the nation. discerning the nature of the threat of bioweapons as well as appropriate responses to them requires greater attention to the biological characteristics of these instruments of war and terror. the dominant paradigm of a weapon as a nuclear device that explodes or a chemical cloud that is set adrift leaves us ill-equipped conceptually and practically to assess and thus to prevent the potentially devastating e ... | 1999 | 10037590 |
| production and cell surface anchoring of functional fusions between the slh motifs of the bacillus anthracis s-layer proteins and the bacillus subtilis levansucrase. | many surface proteins of gram-positive bacteria contain motifs, about 50 amino acids long, called s-layer homology (slh) motifs. bacillus anthracis, the causal agent of anthrax, synthesizes two s-layer proteins, each with three slh motifs towards the amino-terminus. we used biochemical and genetic approaches to investigate the involvement of these motifs in cell surface anchoring. proteinase k digestion produced polypeptides lacking these motifs, and stable three-motif polypeptides were produced ... | 1999 | 10048035 |
| activation of phospholipase c and protein kinase c is required for expression of anthrax lethal toxin cytotoxicity in j774a.1 cells. | anthrax lethal toxin (lt) comprises two proteins: the protective antigen (pa) and the lethal factor (lf). the lt is cytotoxic to macrophage-like cell line j774a.1. pre-treatment of these cells with neomycin, a phospholipase c inhibitor, protected them against anthrax lt cytotoxicity. protection obtained with neomycin indicated that lt stimulates phospholipase c in these cells. it was found that levels of inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate (ip3) dramatically increased in toxin-treated cells. the rise in ... | 1999 | 10048788 |
| a randomly amplified polymorphic dna marker specific for the bacillus cereus group is diagnostic for bacillus anthracis. | aiming to develop a dna marker specific for bacillus anthracis and able to discriminate this species from bacillus cereus, bacillus thuringiensis, and bacillus mycoides, we applied the randomly amplified polymorphic dna (rapd) fingerprinting technique to a collection of 101 strains of the genus bacillus, including 61 strains of the b. cereus group. an 838-bp rapd marker (sg-850) specific for b. cereus, b. thuringiensis, b. anthracis, and b. mycoides was identified. this fragment included a putat ... | 1999 | 10049896 |
| from the centers for disease control and prevention. bioterrorism alleging use of anthrax and interim guidelines for management--united states, 1998. | | 1999 | 10070984 |
| the efforts of who and pugwash to eliminate chemical and biological weapons--a memoir. | the world health organization and the pugwash conferences on science and world affairs (nobel peace prize 1995) have been involved in questions concerning chemical and biological arms since the early 1950s. this memoir reviews a number of milestones in the efforts of these organizations to achieve the elimination of these weapons through international treaties effectively monitored and enforced for adherence to their provisions. it also highlights a number of outstanding personalities who were i ... | 1999 | 10083714 |
| bioterror defense initiative injects shot of cash. | | 1999 | 10084920 |
| oligomerization of anthrax toxin protective antigen and binding of lethal factor during endocytic uptake into mammalian cells. | the protective antigen (pa) protein of anthrax toxin binds to a cellular receptor and is cleaved by cell surface furin to produce a 63-kda fragment (pa63). the receptor-bound pa63 oligomerizes to a heptamer and acts to translocate the catalytic moieties of the toxin, lethal factor (lf) and edema factor (ef), from endosomes to the cytosol. in this report, we used nondenaturing gel electrophoresis to show that each pa63 subunit in the heptamer can bind one lf molecule. studies using pa immobilized ... | 1999 | 10085027 |
| identification of a receptor-binding region within domain 4 of the protective antigen component of anthrax toxin. | anthrax toxin from bacillus anthracis is a three-component toxin consisting of lethal factor (lf), edema factor (ef), and protective antigen (pa). lf and ef are the catalytic components of the toxin, whereas pa is the receptor-binding component. to identify residues of pa that are involved in interaction with the cellular receptor, two solvent-exposed loops of domain 4 of pa (amino acids [aa] 679 to 693 and 704 to 723) were mutagenized, and the altered proteins purified and tested for toxicity i ... | 1999 | 10085028 |
| cutaneous manifestations of biological warfare and related threat agents. | the specter of biological warfare (bw) looms large in the minds of many americans. the us government has required that emergency response teams in more than 100 american cities be trained by the year 2001 to recognize and contain a bw attack. the us military is requiring active duty soldiers to receive immunization against anthrax. dermatologists need not feel helpless in the face of a potential bw attack. many potential agents have cutaneous manifestations that the trained eye of a dermatologis ... | 1999 | 10086453 |
| [inhalation anthrax]. | | 1999 | 10088414 |
| [anthrax]. | | 1999 | 10088485 |
| [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 |
| cloning and nucleotide sequence analysis of gyrb of bacillus cereus, b. thuringiensis, b. mycoides, and b. anthracis and their application to the detection of b. cereus in rice. | as 16s rrna sequence analysis has proven inadequate for the differentiation of bacillus cereus from closely related species, we employed the gyrase b gene (gyrb) as a molecular diagnostic marker. the gyrb genes of b. cereus jcm 2152(t), bacillus thuringiensis iam 12077(t), bacillus mycoides atcc 6462(t), and bacillus anthracis pasteur #2h were cloned and sequenced. oligonucleotide pcr primer sets were designed from within gyrb sequences of the respective bacteria for the specific amplification a ... | 1999 | 10103241 |
| antivaccine advocates line up to support airman. | | 1999 | 10189440 |
| [contribution of determinants, located in bacillus anthracis chromosomes, in realizing the pathogenic properties of the pathogen]. | comparative study of virulence of b. anthracis strains harbouring pxo1 and pxo2 plasmids in mice and guinea pigs showed that among six b. anthracis strains, three were 100-1000 times less virulent for guinea pigs. genetic construction of b. anthracis strains using transduction and conjugation transfer of resident plasmids permitted us to rule out the effects of modified pxo1 and pxo2 replicons and to prove the existence of nonidentified chromosome locuses responsible for the development of an in ... | 1999 | 10190106 |
| involvement of phospholipase a2 activation in anthrax lethal toxin-induced cytotoxicity. | the molecular mechanism of cytotoxic effect exerted by the lethal toxin (letx) of bacillus anthracis is not well understood. in the present study, using primary culture of mouse peritoneal macrophages, we have investigated possible cytotoxic mechanisms. letx was not found to induce high levels of nitric oxide (no) production for no-mediated toxicity. fragmentation of dna, a biochemical marker of apoptosis, was not observed in letx-treated cells. pretreatment of cells with antioxidants such as me ... | 1999 | 10195347 |
| genetic diversity in the protective antigen gene of bacillus anthracis. | bacillus anthracis is a gram-positive spore-forming bacterium that causes the disease anthrax. the anthrax toxin contains three components, including the protective antigen (pa), which binds to eucaryotic cell surface receptors and mediates the transport of toxins into the cell. in this study, the entire 2,294-nucleotide protective antigen gene (pag) was sequenced from 26 of the most diverse b. anthracis strains to identify potential variation in the toxin and to further our understanding of b. ... | 1999 | 10197996 |
| distinct affinity of binding sites for s-layer homologous domains in clostridium thermocellum and bacillus anthracis cell envelopes. | binding parameters were determined for the slh (s-layer homologous) domains from the clostridium thermocellum outer layer protein olpb, from the c. thermocellum s-layer protein slpa, and from the bacillus anthracis s-layer proteins ea1 and sap, using cell walls from c. thermocellum and b. anthracis. each slh domain bound to c. thermocellum and b. anthracis cell walls with a different kd, ranging between 7.1 x 10(-7) and 1.8 x 10(-8) m. cell wall binding sites for slh domains displayed different ... | 1999 | 10198008 |
| anthrax vaccine. model of a response to the biologic warfare threat. | anthrax vaccine is being administered to all 2.4 million active duty, reserve, and national guard troops, as prophylaxis against biologic warfare. the vaccine's effectiveness in this setting may be limited. this article discusses unresolved issues of safety, with an emphasis on the need for careful surveillance of vaccines used by the military, which has sidestepped the commercial process. also considered are ethical issues related to the development and use of military biologics, as the united ... | 1999 | 10198799 |
| adjusting fda policies to address bioterrorist threat. | | 1999 | 10207870 |
| endoprotease pace4 is ca2+-dependent and temperature-sensitive and can partly rescue the phenotype of a furin-deficient cell strain. | pace4 is a member of the eukaryotic subtilisin-like endoprotease family. the expression of human pace4 in rpe.40 cells (furin-null mutants derived from chinese hamster ovary k1 cells) resulted in the rescue of a number of wild-type characteristics, including sensitivity to sindbis virus and the ability to process the low-density-lipoprotein receptor-related protein. expression of pace4 in these cells failed to restore wild-type sensitivity to pseudomonas exotoxin a. co-expression of human pace4 ... | 1999 | 10215603 |
| genome organization is not conserved between bacillus cereus and bacillus subtilis. | the opportunistic pathogen bacillus cereus is the genetically stable member of a group of closely related bacteria including the insect pathogen bacillus thuringiensis and the mammalian pathogen bacillus anthracis. physical maps of b. cereus and b. thuringiensis strains show considerable variations in discrete parts of the chromosome, suggesting that certain genome regions are more prone to rearrangements. b. cereus belongs to the same subgroup of bacillus species as bacillus subtilis, by both p ... | 1999 | 10217496 |
| co-existence of clpb and clpc in the bacillaceae. | the gene encoding clpc in bacillus anthracis was amplified from the chromosome by polymerase chain reaction using degenerate oligonucleotide primers. these primers also amplified a second dna fragment identified as a clpb homolog. both genes were suggested to be functional. contrary to bacillus subtilis which possesses clpc but not clpb, many bacillus species were found to harbor both clpc and clpb. we also found that clostridium strains could possess clpb, clpc, or both. all the gram-negative s ... | 1999 | 10227159 |
| anthrax as a biological weapon: medical and public health management. working group on civilian biodefense. | to develop consensus-based recommendations for measures to be taken by medical and public health professionals following the use of anthrax as a biological weapon against a civilian population. | 1999 | 10328075 |
| king tut's curse, take 2. | | 1999 | 10333829 |
| internal and flanking sequence from aflp fragments using ligation-mediated suppression pcr. | amplification fragment-length polymorphism (aflp) analysis has proven to be a powerful tool for developing a large number of reliable genetic markers across a wide variety of organisms. often it is desirable to further characterize these markers by obtaining internal and flanking sequence information. here, we present a systematic approach for obtaining such information from aflp markers. aflp fragments can be isolated from dried polyacryamide sequencing gels (that have been stored for extended ... | 1999 | 10337484 |
| disruption of anthrax toxin binding with the use of human antibodies and competitive inhibitors. | the protective antigen (pa83) of bacillus anthracis is integral to the mechanism of anthrax toxicity. we have isolated a human single-chain fv antibody fragment (scfv) that blocks binding of a fluorescently tagged protective antigen (pa) moiety to cell surface receptors. several phage-displayed scfv were isolated from a naive library biopanned against pa83. soluble, monomeric scfv were characterized for affinity and screened for their capacity to disrupt receptor-mediated binding of pa. four uni ... | 1999 | 10338505 |
| anthrax toxin entry into polarized epithelial cells. | we examined the entry of anthrax edema toxin (edtx) into polarized human t84 epithelial cells using cyclic amp-regulated cl- secretion as an index of toxin entry. edtx is a binary a/b toxin which self assembles at the cell surface from anthrax edema factor and protective antigen (pa). pa binds to cell surface receptors and delivers ef, an adenylate cyclase, to the cytosol. edtx elicited a strong cl- secretory response when it was applied to the basolateral surface of t84 cells but no response wh ... | 1999 | 10338515 |
| proteasome activity is required for anthrax lethal toxin to kill macrophages. | anthrax lethal toxin (letx), consisting of protective antigen (pa) and lethal factor (lf), rapidly kills primary mouse macrophages and macrophage-like cell lines such as raw 264.7. lf is translocated by pa into the cytosol of target cells, where it acts as a metalloprotease to cleave mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 1 (mek1) and possibly other proteins. in this study, we show that proteasome inhibitors such as acetyl-leu-leu-norleucinal, mg132, and lactacystin efficiently block letx cytot ... | 1999 | 10338520 |
| bctp sounds its battle cry. | | 1999 | 10348630 |
| isolation of an asporogenic (spooa) protective antigen-producing strain of bacillus anthracis. | we found that congo red agar allows identification of sporulation-deficient bacillus anthracis. using congo red agar, we isolated an asporogenic derivative of the protective antigen-producing strain b. anthracis delta sterne-1(ppa102). polymerase chain reaction and southern hybridization analyses of dna from the asporogenic mutant revealed that a deletion was present in spooa, an essential gene for the initiation of sporulation. the deletion also encompassed the spoivb homologue and a portion of ... | 1999 | 10349715 |
| [adenylyl cyclase--isoforms, regulation and function]. | since its discovery in 1956, cyclic amp (camp) has been shown to be a ubiquitous second messenger. it functions as one of many signaling molecules enabling cells to respond to external signals. camp is synthesized by adenylyl cyclases (acs), enzymes that convert adenosine triphosphate (atp) to camp. three classes of acs have been cloned based on the conservation of their catalytic domains; they include: class i-acs from enterobacteria, including escherichia coli; class ii-"toxic" acs, including ... | 1999 | 10355282 |
| plcr is a pleiotropic regulator of extracellular virulence factor gene expression in bacillus thuringiensis. | members of the bacillus cereus group (b. anthracis, b. cereus, b. mycoides and b. thuringiensis) are well-known pathogens of mammals (b. anthracis and b. cereus) and insects (b. thuringiensis). the specific diseases they cause depend on their capacity to produce specific virulence factors, such as the lethal toxin of b. anthracis and the cry toxins of b. thuringiensis. however, these bacillus spp. also produce a variety of proteins, such as phospholipases c, which are known to act as virulence f ... | 1999 | 10361306 |
| cytotoxic t-lymphocyte epitopes fused to anthrax toxin induce protective antiviral immunity. | we have investigated the use of the protective antigen (pa) and lethal factor (lf) components of anthrax toxin as a system for in vivo delivery of cytotoxic t-lymphocyte (ctl) epitopes. during intoxication, pa directs the translocation of lf into the cytoplasm of mammalian cells. here we demonstrate that antiviral immunity can be induced in balb/c mice immunized with pa plus a fusion protein containing the n-terminal 255 amino acids of lf (lfn) and an epitope from the nucleoprotein (np) of lymph ... | 1999 | 10377103 |
| understanding bacillus anthracis pathogenesis. | | 1999 | 10383221 |
| bacillus anthracis: medical issues of biologic warfare. | recent world events refocused attention on the possibility of nations engaging in biologic warfare, including an attack with bacillus anthracis. the single available anthrax vaccine in the united states for human use, formerly known as mdph-pa, has decreased ability to protect laboratory animals against virulent b. anthracis strains, especially compared with new vaccines being developed. studies with these vaccines, however, have several shortcomings. the pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment, and ... | 1999 | 10391414 |
| identification and characterization of a germination operon on the virulence plasmid pxo1 of bacillus anthracis. | the spores of bacillus anthracis, the agent of anthrax disease, germinate within professional phagocytes, such as murine macrophage-like raw264.7 cells and alveolar macrophages. we identified a cluster of germination genes extending for 3608 nucleotides between the pag and atxa genes on the b. anthracis virulence plasmid pxo1. the three predicted proteins (40, 55 and 37 kda in size) have significant sequence similarities to b. subtilis, b. cereus and b. megaterium germination proteins. northern ... | 1999 | 10411756 |
| recombinant vaccinia viruses protect against clostridium perfringens alpha-toxin. | recombinant vaccinia viruses that expressed the nontoxic c-domain of clostridium perfringens alpha-toxin were constructed. the j2r (thymidine kinase [tk] gene) and b13r (serpin 2 [spi-2] gene) loci were used as insertion sites for the clostridial dna, and expression of the foreign protein was measured in each case. a double recombinant that encoded the alpha-toxin truncate at the b13r locus and the protective antigen of bacillus anthracis at the j2r locus was also constructed. although differenc ... | 1999 | 10413356 |
| the respiratory burst-inhibiting acid phosphatase acpa is not essential for the intramacrophage growth or virulence of francisella novicida. | acid phosphatases capable of inhibiting the respiratory burst of neutrophils have been identified in certain intracellular pathogens. here we evaluate the role of acpa, a respiratory burst-inhibiting acid phosphatase of francisella, in the virulence and intracellular growth of this organism. an f. novicida acpa null mutant was created and found to exhibit wild-type growth kinetics in both cell-line and inflammatory mouse macrophages. the acpa mutant also shows wild-type replication in the spleen ... | 1999 | 10418134 |
| autogenous regulation of the bacillus anthracis pag operon. | protective antigen (pa) is an important component of the edema and lethal toxins produced by bacillus anthracis. pa is essential for binding the toxins to the target cell receptor and for facilitating translocation of the enzymatic toxin components, edema factor and lethal factor, across the target cell membrane. the structural gene for pa, paga (previously known as pag), is located on the 182-kb virulence plasmid pxo1 at a locus distinct from the edema factor and lethal factor genes. here we sh ... | 1999 | 10419943 |
| a case of anthrax sepsis: non-fatal course. | | 1999 | 10424807 |
| principles for emergency response to bioterrorism. | the recent occurrence of a series of anthrax-related hoaxes illustrates the need to educate emergency services personnel about how to best ensure patient and worker safety in the case of suspected exposure to biological threat agents. there are very few data to support the methods being used or the variation in current care. emergency physicians, first responders, and hazardous materials response teams need a standardized approach to the management of patients who may have been exposed to biolog ... | 1999 | 10424919 |
| update on emerging infections from the centers for disease control and prevention. bioterrorism alleging use of anthrax and interim guidelines for management--united states, 1998. | | 1999 | 10424929 |
| expression and purification of the recombinant protective antigen of bacillus anthracis. | protective antigen (pa) is a major component of the vaccine against anthrax. the structural gene for the 83-kda pa was expressed as fusion protein with 6x histidine residues in escherichia coli. expression of pa in e. coli under the transcriptional regulation of the t5 promoter yielded an insoluble protein aggregating to form inclusion bodies. the inclusion bodies were solubilized in 6 m guanidine-hcl and the protein was purified under denaturing conditions using nickel nitrilotriacetic acid (ni ... | 1999 | 10425157 |
| the effects of electron and chemical ionization modes on the ms profiling of whole bacteria. | free fatty acid profiling of whole bacteria [francisella tularensis, brucella melitensis, yersinia pestis, bacillus anthracis (vegetative and sporulated), and bacillus cereus] was carried out with direct probe mass spectrometry under 70-ev electron ionization (ei) and isobutane chemical ionization in both the positive (ci+) and negative modes (ci-). electron ionization produced spectra that contained molecular ions and fragment ions from various free fatty acids. spectra acquired with isobutane ... | 1999 | 10439512 |
| anthrax protective antigen: prepore-to-pore conversion. | pa(63), the active 63 kda form of anthrax protective antigen, forms a heptameric ring-shaped oligomer that is believed to represent a precursor of the membrane pore formed by this protein. when maintained at ph >/=8.0, this "prepore" dissociated to monomeric subunits upon treatment with sds at room temperature, but treatment at ph </=7 (or with beta-octylglucoside at ph 8.0) caused it to convert to an sds-resistant pore-like form. transition to this form involved major changes in the conformatio ... | 1999 | 10441138 |
| in vitro selection of dna aptamers to anthrax spores with electrochemiluminescence detection. | systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (selex) was used to select and pcr amplify dna sequences (aptamers) capable of binding to and detecting nonpathogenic sterne strain bacillus anthracis spores. a simplified affinity separation approach was employed, in which autoclaved anthrax spores were used as the separation matrix. an aptamer-magnetic bead-electrochemiluminescence (am-ecl) sandwich assay scheme was devised for detecting anthrax spores. using a low selex dna to spore ra ... | 1999 | 10451913 |
| cell surface-exposed tetanus toxin fragment c produced by recombinant bacillus anthracis protects against tetanus toxin. | bacillus anthracis, the causal agent of anthrax, synthesizes two surface layer (s-layer) proteins, ea1 and sap, which account for 5 to 10% of total protein and are expressed in vivo. a recombinant b. anthracis strain was constructed by integrating into the chromosome a translational fusion harboring the dna fragments encoding the cell wall-targeting domain of the s-layer protein ea1 and tetanus toxin fragment c (toxc). this construct was expressed under the control of the promoter of the s-layer ... | 1999 | 10456940 |
| vaccines in civilian defense against bioterrorism. | | 1999 | 10458959 |
| vaccines, pharmaceutical products, and bioterrorism: challenges for the u.s. food and drug administration. | | 1999 | 10458960 |
| clinical and epidemiologic principles of anthrax. | | 1999 | 10458964 |
| anthrax: a possible case history. | | 1999 | 10458965 |
| applying lessons learned from anthrax case history to other scenarios. | | 1999 | 10458966 |
| polymorphism analysis and gene detection by minisequencing on an array of gel-immobilized primers. | two procedures, multibase and multiprimer, have been developed for single nucleotide extension of primers immobilized within polyacrylamide gel pads on a microchip. in the multibase assay, a primer is next to a polymorphic nucleotide; the nucleotide is identified by the specificity with which the primer incorporates fluorescently labeled dideoxyribo-nucleoside triphosphates. in the multiprimer assay, several primers containing different 3'-terminal nucleotides overlapping the variable nucleotide ... | 1999 | 10471749 |
| simulants, stimulants and diseases: the evolution of the united states biological warfare programme, 1945-60. | details about the us biological programme have largely been based on information in the open literature. more revealing aspects of the programme are now available through documents released under the freedom of information act. annual reports of the activities of the us army chemical corps from 1945 to 1959 have revealed significant increases in activity in biological warfare research. the corps research activity progressed from work on anthrax in 1941, through anti-crop agents in the mid-1940s, ... | 1999 | 10472189 |
| 1996-97 global anthrax report. | while there is a general decrease in the number of anthrax outbreaks, and thus of human cases, worldwide this is still a disease that is extensively under-diagnosed and under-reported. however, it is now very infrequent to rare in canada, the united states, and many countries in europe. an increasing number of countries are now free. at the other extreme, it is a significant problem in west africa, spain, greece, turkey, albania, romania and in central asia. in spite of the textbooks, livestock ... | 1999 | 10475945 |
| a national register of historic and contemporary anthrax foci. | anthrax in russia has for a long time posed a serious problem for public health and veterinary services. at the beginning of the century, 40-60 thousand cases of this infection were annually reported in the country in agricultural animals and about 10-20 thousand cases in people where each fourth (25%) was dying. in the russian federation the registration of anthrax foci is obligatory for veterinary as well as for sanitary-epidemiological services. so our initial project, funded by the internati ... | 1999 | 10475946 |
| anthrax explodes in an australian summer. | anthrax occurred on 83 properties in an area of north central victoria between 26 january and 26 march in the summer of 1997. anthrax had not been recorded in the outbreak area since records were initiated in 1914, although anthrax did occur in the general area in the 1880s to 1890s. standard australian control measures were applied to the properties, including quarantine, tracing movements of animals on and off affected properties, secure disposal of carcases by burning, enhanced surveillance o ... | 1999 | 10475947 |
| identification of bacillus anthracis strains in china. | as part of a project to establish a reference strain collection, phenotypic, biochemical and genetic analyses were carried out on 84 strains of bacillus anthracis, 81 of them of chinese origin from various sources. particular differences from reports on isolates of other origins were the possession of fimbriae and single polar flagella with consequent motility in 77, self-agglutination by 64 and failure to ferment maltose in 60 of the chinese strains. the findings were considered to be of signif ... | 1999 | 10475948 |
| meso-scale ecology of anthrax in southern africa: a pilot study of diversity and clustering. | it has only recently been possible to detect sufficient genetic diversity among anthrax isolates to allow genotype grouping (keim et al. 1997). early results of such grouping suggest that the southern african subcontinent may be the geographical origin of bacillus anthracis. this report describes a pilot investigation of the genetic diversity of a study group of isolates from the kruger national park, south africa, and efforts to detect spatio-temporal clustering within the study group. this stu ... | 1999 | 10475949 |
| a review of anthrax in canada and implications for research on the disease in northern bison. | during the first half of the century, the majority of anthrax outbreaks in canada occurred in the southern portions of ontario and quebec and were often associated with pastures contaminated by effluent from textile industries dealing with imported animal materials. in 1952, introduction of federal regulations requiring disinfection of these materials greatly reduced the incidence of anthrax in eastern canada. since 1962, domestic outbreaks of the disease have been reported almost exclusively in ... | 1999 | 10475950 |
| antibody-based systems for the detection of bacillus anthracis in environmental samples | there is a necessity for rapid immunodiagnostic techniques for the detection and identification of bacillus anthracis in environmental specimens. the technology available for accomplishing this ranges in complexity from a simple dipstick type assay to complex biosensors. we have developed antigen capture dipstick assays for a series of infectious agents including an assay for b. anthracis protective antigen and one for b. anthracis spores. these immunochromatographic assays use colloidal gold to ... | 1999 | 10475951 |
| molecular diversity in bacillus anthracis. | molecular typing of bacillus anthracis has been extremely difficult due to the lack of polymorphic dna markers. we have identified nine novel variable number tandemly repeated loci from previously known amplified fragment length polymorphism markers or from the dna sequence. in combination with the previously known vrra locus, these markers provide discrimination power to genetically characterize b. anthracis isolates. the variable number tandem repeat (vntr) loci are found in both gene coding ( ... | 1999 | 10475952 |
| fluorescent detection techniques for real-time multiplex strand specific detection of bacillus anthracis using rapid pcr. | speed is a key area in our development of pcr assays for bacillus anthracis. we believe that the strand specific detection of amplicons within 10 min is a realistic goal and that this will be achieved through fluorescent in-tube assays. we have used the idaho lightcycler to study and develop candidate assays for b. anthracis. new strand specific fluorescent methods have been developed and a number of formats have been studied for speed and sensitivity. internal controls have been developed as a ... | 1999 | 10475953 |
| the ba813 chromosomal dna sequence effectively traces the whole bacillus anthracis community. | plasmid genes that are responsible for virulence of bacillus anthracis are important targets for the dna-based detection of anthrax. we evaluated the distribution of the ba813 chromosomal dna sequence (ba813) within closely related bacillus species. ba813 was systematically identified from 47 strains or isolates of b. anthracis tested, thus indicating its reliability as a tracer for that species. from the 60 strains of closely related bacillus spp. examined, three bona fide b. cereus and one bon ... | 1999 | 10475954 |
| polymerase chain reaction-elisa to detect bacillus anthracis from soil samples-limitations of present published primers. | a polymerase chain reaction (pcr)-elisa technique to detect bacillus anthracis from soil samples has been developed. the application of streptavidine-coated microtitre plates as well as plates covered with covalently linked oligonucleotides as catching probes led to a test sensitivity of about 100 fg pure genomic dna or of less than 10 spores seeded into 100 g soil material. some non-suspicious soil samples collected from different locations yielded positive results with presently published prim ... | 1999 | 10475955 |
| definitive identification of bacillus anthracis--a review. | the word 'problem' is seen with some frequency in relation to clear differentiation between bacillus anthracis and b. cereus. in fact, although the close relationship of these two species is undisputed, it is only in the case of a few borderline isolates, rarely encountered in practice, that any sort of identification problem exists. until recently this was only important to the taxonomist who found it unsatisfactory not to be able to identify definitively such isolates. to most others, if the i ... | 1999 | 10475956 |
| molecular recognition specificity of bacillus anthracis spore antibodies. | the sensitivity and specificity of polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies raised against anthrax spore preparations has been assessed by western blotting. none of the antibodies studied were completely specific in recognizing the anthrax spore surface. a polyclonal serum recognized a wide range of spore surface epitopes and demonstrated limited cross-reaction with the near-neighbour species bacillus cereus spore surface. two monoclonal antibodies studied demonstrated more extensive cross-reaction ... | 1999 | 10475958 |
| the capsule of bacillus anthracis, a review | the capsule of bacillus anthracis, composed of poly-d-glutamic acid, serves as one of the principal virulence factors during anthrax infection. by virtue of its negative charge, the capsule is purported to inhibit host defence through inhibition of phagocytosis of the vegetative cells by macrophages. in conjunction with lethal toxin and oedema toxin, whose target cells include macrophages and neutrophils, respectively, the capsule allows virulent anthrax bacilli to grow virtually unimpeded in th ... | 1999 | 10475959 |
| bacillus anthracis surface: capsule and s-layer. | two abundant surface proteins, ea1 and sap, are components of the bacillus anthracis surface layer (s-layer). their corresponding genes have been cloned, shown to be clustered on the chromosome and sequenced. ea1 and sap each possess three 's-layer homology' motifs. single and double disrupted mutants were constructed. ea1 and sap were co-localized at the cell surface of both the non-capsulated and capsulated bacilli. when present, the capsule is exterior to, and completely covers, the s-layer p ... | 1999 | 10475960 |
| the s-layer homology domain as a means for anchoring heterologous proteins on the cell surface of bacillus anthracis. | bacillus anthracis synthesizes two s-layer proteins, each containing three s-layer homology (slh) motifs towards their amino-terminus. in vitro experiments suggested that the three motifs of each protein were organized as a structural domain sufficient to bind purified cell walls. chimeric genes encoding the slh domains fused to the levansucrase of bacillus subtilis were constructed and integrated on the chromosome. cell fractionation and electron microscopy studies showed that both heterologous ... | 1999 | 10475961 |
| sequence, assembly and analysis of px01 and px02. | bacillus anthracis plasmids px01 and px02, harboured by the sterne and pasteur strains, respectively, have been sequenced by random 'shotgun' cloning and high throughout sequence analysis. these sequences have been assembled (sequencher) to generate a circulate px01 plasmid containing 181 656 bp and a single linear (gapped) px02 contig containing at least 93.479 bp. initial annotation suggests that the two plasmids combined contain at least 200 potential open reading frames (orfs) with < 40% hav ... | 1999 | 10475962 |
| genetic comparison of bacillus anthracis and its close relatives using amplified fragment length polymorphism and polymerase chain reaction analysis. | amplified fragment length polymorphism (aflp) analysis allows a rapid, relatively simple analysis of a large portion of a microbial genome, providing information about the species and its phylogenetic relationship to other microbes (vos et al. 1995). the method simply surveys the genome for length and sequence polymorphisms. the aflp pattern identified can be used for comparison to the genomes of other species. unlike other methods, it does not rely on analysis of a single genetic locus that may ... | 1999 | 10475963 |
| the native virulence plasmid combination affects the segregational stability of a theta-replicating shuttle vector in bacillus anthracis var. new hampshire. | the segregational stability of a small, theta-replicating, non-mobilizable shuttle plasmid (paex-5e) was determined in fully virulent (px01+/px02+), partially cured (px01+/px02- and px01-/px02+) and fully cured (px01-/px02-) derivatives of bacillus anthracis var. new hampshire. under the growth conditions used (l-broth, 37 degrees c, aerobic, batch culture), paex-5e remained segregationally stable in the px01-/px02+ and px01-/px02- derivatives for in excess of 100 culture generations, but was ex ... | 1999 | 10475964 |
| control of virulence gene expression in bacillus anthracis. | the atxa gene is an important regulator of virulence gene expression in bacillus anthracis. atxa positively regulates expression of the three genes encoding the anthrax toxin proteins and at least one gene is required for capsule production. here we report that an atxa-null mutant exhibits phenotypes unrelated to toxin and capsule synthesis. an atxa-null mutant grows poorly on minimal media and sporulates more efficiently than the parent strain. numerous transposon-generated promoter-lacz fusion ... | 1999 | 10475965 |
| crystallographic studies of the anthrax lethal toxin | anthrax lethal toxin comprises two proteins: protective antigen (pa; mw 83 kda) and lethal factor (lf; mw 87 kda). we have recently determined the crystal structure of the 735-residue pa in its monomeric and heptameric forms (petosa et al. 1997). it bears no resemblance to other bacterial toxins of known three-dimensional structure, and defines a new structural class which includes homologous toxins from other gram-positive bacteria. we have proposed a model of membrane insertion in which the wa ... | 1999 | 10475966 |
| mechanism of membrane translocation by anthrax toxin: insertion and pore formation by protective antigen | proteolytic activation of receptor-bound protective antigen (pa) at the cell surface removes pa20, allowing pa63 to oligomerize and form a ring-shaped heptameric prepore. the prepore binds edema factor (ef) and lethal factor (lf) and, after endocytosis and trafficking of the complex to an acidic, vesicular compartment, it undergoes membrane insertion and mediates translocation of ef/lf to the cytosol. data from membrane conductance experiments support a model of membrane insertion in which the 2 ... | 1999 | 10475967 |
| anthrax toxin fusion proteins for intracellular delivery of macromolecules | the dominant role played by the anthrax toxin in bacillus anthracis pathogenesis shows that the toxin has evolved to be an efficient system for delivering its two catalytic protein components, oedema factor and lethal factor (lf), into the cytosol of host cells. this system involves binding of the protective antigen (pa) toxin component to a ubiquitous (and still unidentified) receptor, proteolytic activation at the cell surface, internalization by endocytosis and translocation through an early ... | 1999 | 10475968 |
| lethal toxin actions and their consequences. | after entry of infectious anthrax spores into the body, host-specific signals induce spore germination, outgrowth of vegetative bacilli and the expression of lethal toxin and other virulence factors. anthrax lethal toxin (letx) is a virulence factor responsible for the major pathologies seen during systemic anthrax infections. injection of sterile letx into test animals mimics the shock and sudden death seen during active bacterial infections. once large levels of letx are produced within the bo ... | 1999 | 10475969 |
| anthrax lethal factor cleaves the n-terminus of mapkks and induces tyrosine/threonine phosphorylation of mapks in cultured macrophages | the lethal toxin (letx) of bacillus anthracis is the major virulence factor responsible for the death of infected animals and for cytolysis of cultured macrophages. its catalytic component, lf, contains the characteristic zinc-binding motif of metalloproteases, it binds zinc and indirect evidence suggests that this hydrolytic activity is essential for letx cytotoxicity (limpel et al. 1994; kochi et al. 1994). to identify substrates of lf, we have used the yeast two-hybrid system, employing an lf ... | 1999 | 10475970 |
| anthrax lethal factor causes proteolytic inactivation of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase. | a search of the national cancer institute's anti-neoplastic drug screen for compounds with an inhibitory profile similar to that of the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (mapkk) inhibitor pd098059 yielded anthrax lethal toxin. anthrax lethal factor was found to inhibit progesterone-induced meiotic maturation of frog oocytes by preventing the phosphorylation and activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (mapk). similarly, lethal toxin prevented the activation of mapk in serum stimulate ... | 1999 | 10475971 |
| experiences with vaccination and epidemiological investigations on an anthrax outbreak in australia in 1997. | between january and february 1997, there was a severe outbreak of anthrax on 83 properties in north-central victoria, australia. vaccination was used as a major tool to control the outbreak by establishing a vaccination buffer zone 30 km by 20 km. in all, 78, 649 cattle in 457 herds were vaccinated in a three week program. in the face of the outbreak, there was a delay before vaccination was able to stop deaths. in the 10 days following vaccination 144 cases of confirmed anthrax occurred and 38 ... | 1999 | 10475972 |