| ratio of lethal and edema factors in rabbit systemic anthrax. | bacillus anthracis secretes two binary toxins: lethal toxin (pa + lf) and edema toxin (pa + ef) that play a major role in the pathogenesis of anthrax. their activities can synergize or interfere among each other, depending on the cell type. it is therefore fundamental to know their concentration ratio in vivo. here, we report the first determination of the concentration ratio of anthrax toxin components lf/ef in the serum of rabbits infected with b. anthracis spores. | 2008 | 18812184 |
| role of the n-terminal amino acid of bacillus anthracis lethal factor in lethal toxin cytotoxicity and its effect on the lethal toxin neutralization assay. | the cytotoxic activity of lethal factor (lf), a critical reagent used in the cell-based lethal toxin neutralization assay to assess anthrax vaccines, was shown to depend on the identity of its n-terminal amino acid, which plays a role in the targeting of lf to the proteasome for degradation. these results demonstrate that care must be taken to ensure that lf preparations used in standardized cell-based assays are not altered at their n-terminal ends. | 2008 | 18815235 |
| immunological dynamics in response to two anthrax vaccines in mice. | in order to understand the variation of humoral and cellular immune responses to a16r live spore and ava vaccine and to identify efficient immunological parameters for the early evaluation of post immunization in mice, we dynamically monitored the antibody production and cellular responses after the vaccination of balb/c mice with the anthrax vaccines. the results show that both anti-ava and anti-spore antibodies were detectable in the a16r live spore vaccinated group while high titers of anti-a ... | 2008 | 18815750 |
| using molecular docking, 3d-qsar, and cluster analysis for screening structurally diverse data sets of pharmacological interest. | in this study, we propose a drug design approach which includes docking, molecular fingerprints based cluster analysis, and 'induced' descriptors based receptor-dependent 3d-qsar. the method was shown to be very useful for screening and modeling structurally diverse data sets of pharmacological interest. different from other receptor-dependent 3d-qsar, no ambiguous alignments are required for the construction of the models, and the computational cost is relatively lower. moreover, 'induced' desc ... | 2008 | 18816024 |
| nir spectroscopic investigation of two fluoroquinolones, levofloxacin and ofloxacin, and their tablets for qualitative identification of commercial products on the market. | a rapid and nondestructive identification method for ofloxacin (oflx) and levofloxacin (lvfx) utilizing diffusion reflectance near-infrared (nir) spectroscopy was developed. an obvious difference in spectral patterns between lvfx that is used for commercial tablets and lvfx hcl that can be purchased as a reagent at a low price was also observed. these quinolones are especially important for use as drugs against bio-terrorism because of their effectiveness against anthrax infection. therefore, th ... | 2008 | 18819512 |
| antibacterial activity of the fruits of iranian torilis leptophylla against some clinical pathogens. | the aim of this study was to examine the antimicrobial activity of the methanolic extract of torilis leptophylla was tested on eleven bacteria (bacillus anthracis, bacillus subtilis, bacillus pumilus, staphylococcus aureus, bacillus licheniformis, brucella melitensis, escherichia coli, salmonella typhi, proteus mirabilis, bordetella bronshiseptica and pseudomonas aeruginosa). tested extract was effective against all bacteria but not b. subtilis. consequently, the ethanolic extract had antibacter ... | 2008 | 18819541 |
| suppression of dendritic cell activation by anthrax lethal toxin and edema toxin depends on multiple factors including cell source, stimulus used, and function tested. | bacillus anthracis produces lethal toxin (lt) and edema toxin (et), and they suppress the function of lps-stimulated dendritic cells (dcs). because dcs respond differently to various microbial stimuli, we compared toxin effects in bone marrow dcs stimulated with either lps or legionella pneumophila (lp). lt, not et, was more toxic for cells from balb/c than from c57bl/6 (b6) as measured by 7-aad uptake; however, et suppressed cd11c expression. lt suppressed il-12, il-6, and tnf-alpha in cells fr ... | 2008 | 18821847 |
| [phenotypic and genetic features of cultural-morphologic variants of bacillus anthracis]. | comparative analysis of mvla-genotypes of 6 bacillus anthracis strains and 40 their variants differing on capsule- and toxin synthesis, hemolytic, proteolytic and lecitinase activity, nutritional requirements, susceptibility to anthrax bacteriophages, virulence, immunogenicity, and presence of genes for capsule and toxin synthesis was performed. results of phylogenetic analysis of 5 chromosome locuses and plasmid locus pxo1aat which are variable for this sample of b. anthracis cultures showed th ... | 2008 | 18822496 |
| electrically active polyaniline coated magnetic (eapm) nanoparticle as novel transducer in biosensor for detection of bacillus anthracis spores in food samples. | electrically active polyaniline coated magnetic (eapm) nanoparticle-based biosensor has been developed for the detection of bacillus anthracis endospores in contaminated food samples. the 100 nm-diameter eapm nanoparticles are synthesized from aniline monomer (made electrically active by acid doping) coating the surface of gamma iron oxide cores. the magnetic, electrical, and structural characteristics of the synthesized eapm nanoparticles have been studied using superconducting quantum interfer ... | 2009 | 18823768 |
| evaluation of five commercial nucleic acid extraction kits for their ability to inactivate bacillus anthracis spores and comparison of dna yields from spores and spiked environmental samples. | this study evaluated five commercial extraction kits for their ability to recover dna from bacillus anthracis spores and spiked environmental samples. the kits evaluated represent the major types of methodologies which are commercially available for dna or total nucleic acid extraction, and included the chargeswitch gdna mini bacteria kit, nuclisens isolation kit, puregene genomic dna purification kit, qiaamp dna blood mini kit, and the ultraclean microbial dna isolation kit. extraction methods ... | 2009 | 18824041 |
| characterization of bacillus anthracis iron-regulated surface determinant (isd) proteins containing neat domains. | three iron-regulated surface determinant (isd) proteins, containing near transporter (neat) domains (gbaa4789-7), constitute part of an eight-member bacillus anthracis operon. gbaa4789 (isdc), previously characterized by others as a haem-binding protein, and two novel isd proteins characterized in this study, gbaa4788 (isdj) and gbaa4787 (isdk) proteins, can be translated from two alternative overlapping transcriptional units. the three neat-containing isd proteins are shown to be expressed in v ... | 2008 | 18826411 |
| effects of a reduced dose schedule and intramuscular administration of anthrax vaccine adsorbed on immunogenicity and safety at 7 months: a randomized trial. | in 1999, the us congress directed the centers for disease control and prevention to conduct a pivotal safety and efficacy study of anthrax vaccine adsorbed (ava). | 2008 | 18827210 |
| computational insights into the interaction of the anthrax lethal factor with the n-terminal region of its substrates. | the anthrax lethal factor is a zinc metalloprotease toxin secreted by bacillus anthracis which cleaves at the n-terminal region of six mitogen activated protein kinase kinases (meks) in the cell. additionally, it is known to cleave a nine residue peptide "lf10," 50-fold more efficiently than nine residues of mek1. there is very little sequence similarity between the mek n-termini, thus, it is unclear how the lethal factor can accommodate and cleave the diverse n-termini of the meks and whether t ... | 2009 | 18831046 |
| producing, controlling, and stabilizing pasteur's anthrax vaccine: creating a new industry and a health market. | when pasteur and chamberland hastily set up their small biological industry to meet the agricultural demand for the anthrax vaccine, their methods for preparation and production had not yet been stabilized. the process of learning how to standardize biological products was accelerated in 1882 when vaccination accidents required the revision of production norms as the first hypotheses on fixity, inalterability, and transportability of vaccines were invalidated and replaced by procedures for conti ... | 2008 | 18831139 |
| bioterrorism and the anaesthesiologist's perspective. | the use of non-conventional agents aimed at causing panic and terror among civilians has a long history. there have been uninterrupted threats and the use of biological and chemical weaponry from the time of early tribal conflicts to the iran-iraq war. the sole practical experience has come from the release of the nerve gas sarin in a tokyo subway (1994) and the inhalational anthrax discovered in florida (2001). drills that simulate scenarios of biological/chemical mass infestation have yielded ... | 2008 | 18831299 |
| circular dichroism and magnetic circular dichroism studies of the biferrous site of the class ib ribonucleotide reductase from bacillus cereus: comparison to the class ia enzymes. | the rate limiting step in dna biosynthesis is the reduction of ribonucleotides to form the corresponding deoxyribonucleotides. this reaction is catalyzed by ribonucleotide reductases (rnrs) and is an attractive target against rapidly proliferating pathogens. class i rnrs are binuclear non-heme iron enzymes and can be further divided into subclasses. class ia is found in many organisms, including humans, while class ib has only been found in bacteria, notably some pathogens. both bacillus anthrac ... | 2008 | 18831534 |
| anthrax investigation. nas study may fail to settle anthrax case. | | 2008 | 18832614 |
| effect of cpg oligonucleotides on vaccine-induced b cell memory. | adding synthetic oligodeoxynucleotides containing unmethylated cpg motifs to anthrax vaccine adsorbed (ava, the licensed human vaccine) increases the speed and magnitude of the resultant ab response. ab titers persist in the protective range for >1 year, significantly longer than in animals vaccinated with ava alone. unexpectedly, a majority of mice immunized with cpg-adjuvanted ava maintained resistance to anthrax infection even after their ab titers had declined into the subprotective range. t ... | 2008 | 18832738 |
| amoxicillin for postexposure inhalational anthrax in pediatrics: rationale for dosing recommendations. | we reviewed information about the safety and plasma pharmacokinetic data for amoxicillin, specifically related to its potential use for postexposure inhalational anthrax. amoxicillin (45 mg/kg/d) given orally in 3 divided doses to pediatric patients <40 kg should yield an adequate time above the mic for susceptible bacillus anthracis (< or =0.5 microg/ml) over most of the dosing interval (75-100%). doses <45 mg/kg/d and dosing intervals longer than 8 hours should not be used for postexposure inh ... | 2008 | 18833025 |
| the bacillus anthracis slel (yaah) protein is an n-acetylglucosaminidase involved in spore cortex depolymerization. | bacillus anthracis spores, the infectious agents of anthrax, are notoriously difficult to remove from contaminated areas because they are resistant to many eradication methods. these resistance properties are due to the spore's dehydration and dormancy and to the multiple protective layers surrounding the spore core, one of which is the cortex. in order for b. anthracis spores to germinate and resume growth, the cortex peptidoglycan must be depolymerized. this study reports on analyses of slel ( ... | 2008 | 18835992 |
| personalized vaccines: the emerging field of vaccinomics. | the next 'golden age' in vaccinology will be ushered in by the new science of vaccinomics. in turn, this will inform and allow the development of personalized vaccines, based on our increasing understanding of immune response phenotype: genotype information. rapid advances in developing such data are already occurring for hepatitis b, influenza, measles, mumps, rubella, anthrax and smallpox vaccines. in addition, newly available data suggest that some vaccine-related adverse events may also be g ... | 2008 | 18847302 |
| in vitro evaluation, biodistribution and scintigraphic imaging in mice of radiolabeled anthrax toxins. | there is a lot of interest towards creating therapies and vaccines for bacillus anthracis, a bacterium which causes anthrax in humans and which spores can be made into potent biological weapons. systemic injection of lethal factor (lf), edema factor (ef) and protective antigen (pa) in mice produces toxicity, and this protocol is commonly used to investigate the efficacy of specific antibodies in passive protection and vaccine studies. availability of toxins labeled with imageable radioisotopes w ... | 2008 | 18848660 |
| new classes of gram-positive selective antibacterials: inhibitors of mrsa and surrogates of the causative agents of anthrax and tuberculosis. | an antimicrobial phenolic stilbene, (e)-3-hydroxy-5-methoxystilbene, 1 was recently isolated from the leaves of comptonia peregrina (l.) coulter and shown to possess inhibitory activity against several gram-positive bacteria, including isolates of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (mrsa), mycobacterium bovis bcg, and avirulent bacillusanthracis (sterne strain), among others. these results prompted the design and synthesis of two new classes of compounds, phenoxystyrenes and phenothiost ... | 2008 | 18849164 |
| identification of a surrogate marker for infection in the african green monkey model of inhalation anthrax. | in 2001, a bioterrorism attack involving bacillus anthracis spore-laced letters resulted in 22 cases of inhalation anthrax, with five fatalities. this incident identified gaps in our health care system and precipitated a renewed interest in identifying both therapeutics and rapid diagnostic assays. to address those gaps, well-characterized animal models that resemble the human disease are needed. in addition, a rapid assay for a reliable diagnostic marker is key to the success of these efforts. ... | 2008 | 18852240 |
| discovery of new therapeutic targets by the informational spectrum method. | the field of bioinformatics has become a major part of the drug discovery pipeline playing a key role in improvement and acceleration of this time and money consuming process. here we review the application of the informational spectrum method (ism), a virtual spectroscopy method for structure/function analysis of proteins, in identification of functional protein domains representing candidate therapeutic targets for drugs against human immunodeficiency virus (hiv)-1, anthrax, highly pathogenic ... | 2008 | 18855700 |
| [not available]. | | 1947 | 18856997 |
| anthrax in american bison bos bison l. | | 1948 | 18863405 |
| the effect of inflammation on the survival of guinea pigs infected with anthrax. | | 1948 | 18863438 |
| the effect of inflammation on the development of immunity to anthrax in guinea pigs. | | 1948 | 18863439 |
| anthrax of the eyelid. | | 1948 | 18866203 |
| the control of anthrax. | | 1948 | 18867321 |
| treatment of cutaneous anthrax with penicillin. | | 1948 | 18876013 |
| roentgen treatment of external infections due to bacillus anthracis. | | 1948 | 18882264 |
| [anthrax and streptomycin]. | | 1948 | 18883064 |
| para-anthrax; infection with organisms resembling bacillus anthracis. | | 1948 | 18886276 |
| anthrax; 36 human cases of the external type treated successfully with penicillin. | | 1948 | 18890224 |
| anthrax. | | 1948 | 18892903 |
| nursing care in anthrax. | | 1948 | 18892904 |
| induced mutation on bacillus anthracis and bacillus mesentericus. | | 1948 | 18894932 |
| incidence of anthrax in livestock during 1945, 1946, and 1947 with special reference to control measures in the various states. | | 1948 | 18895322 |
| elephant tusks, a source of human anthrax. | | 1947 | 18896014 |
| [not available]. | | 1947 | 18899623 |
| [not available]. | | 1947 | 18899959 |
| [not available]. | | 1947 | 18913921 |
| the treatment of human anthrax with penicillin. | | 1948 | 18914373 |
| [not available]. | | 1947 | 18920414 |
| artificial plasmid engineered to simulate multiple biological threat agents. | the objective of this study was to develop a non-virulent simulant to replace several virulent organisms during the development of detection and identification methods for biological threat agents. we identified and selected specific genes to detect yersinia pestis, francisella tularensis, burkholderia mallei, burkholderia pseudomallei, rickettsia sp., coxiella burnetii, brucella sp., enterohemorrhagic escherichia coli o157:h7, bacillus anthracis, and variola (smallpox) virus. we then designed a ... | 2009 | 18923830 |
| pulmonary deposition of aerosolized bacillus atrophaeus in a swine model due to exposure from a simulated anthrax letter incident. | dry anthrax spore powder is readily disseminated as an aerosol and it is possible that passive dispersion when opening a letter containing anthrax spores may result in lethal doses to humans. the specific aim of this study was to quantify the respirable aerosol hazard associated with opening an envelope/letter contaminated with a dry spore powder of the biological pathogen anthrax in a typical office environment. an envelope containing a letter contaminated with 1.0 g of dry bacillus atrophaeus ... | 2009 | 18923948 |
| aryl acid adenylating enzymes involved in siderophore biosynthesis: fluorescence polarization assay, ligand specificity, and discovery of non-nucleoside inhibitors via high-throughput screening. | the design and synthesis of a fluorescent probe fl-sal-ams 6 based on the tight-binding inhibitor 5'- o-[ n-(salicyl)sulfamoyl]adenosine (sal-ams) is described for the aryl acid adenylating enzymes (aaaes) known as mbta, ybte, ente, vibe, dhbe, and base involved in siderophore biosynthesis from mycobacterium tuberculosis, yersinia pestis, escherichia coli, vibrio cholerae, bacillus subtilis, and acinetobacter baumannii, respectively. the probe was successfully used to develop a fluorescence pola ... | 2008 | 18928302 |
| immune defence, parasite evasion strategies and their relevance for 'macroscopic phenomena' such as virulence. | the discussion of host-parasite interactions, and of parasite virulence more specifically, has so far, with a few exceptions, not focused much attention on the accumulating evidence that immune evasion by parasites is not only almost universal but also often linked to pathogenesis, i.e. the appearance of virulence. now, the immune evasion hypothesis offers a deeper insight into the evolution of virulence than previous hypotheses. sensitivity analysis for parasite fitness and life-history theory ... | 2009 | 18930879 |
| an essential dnab helicase of bacillus anthracis: identification, characterization, and mechanism of action. | we have described a novel essential replicative dna helicase from bacillus anthracis, the identification of its gene, and the elucidation of its enzymatic characteristics. anthrax dnab helicase (dnab(ba)) is a 453-amino-acid, 50-kda polypeptide with atpase and dna helicase activities. dnab(ba) displayed distinct enzymatic and kinetic properties. dnab(ba) has low single-stranded dna (ssdna)-dependent atpase activity but possesses a strong 5'-->3' dna helicase activity. the stimulation of atpase a ... | 2009 | 18931108 |
| a unique gtp-dependent sporulation sensor histidine kinase in bacillus anthracis. | the bacillus anthracis ba2291 gene codes for a sensor histidine kinase involved in the induction of sporulation. genes for orthologs of the sensor domain of the ba2291 kinase exist in virulence plasmids in this organism, and these proteins, when expressed, inhibit sporulation by converting ba2291 to an apparent phosphatase of the sporulation phosphorelay. evidence suggests that the sensor domains inhibit ba2291 by titrating its activating signal ligand. studies with purified ba2291 revealed that ... | 2009 | 18931112 |
| structure of nicotinic acid mononucleotide adenylyltransferase from bacillus anthracis. | nicotinic acid mononucleotide adenylyltransferase (namnat; ec 2.7.7.18) is the penultimate enzyme in the biosynthesis of nad(+) and catalyzes the adenylation of nicotinic acid mononucleotide (namn) by atp to form nicotinic acid adenine dinucleotide (naad). this enzyme is regarded as a suitable candidate for antibacterial drug development; as such, bacillus anthracis namnat (ba namnat) was heterologously expressed in escherichia coli for the purpose of inhibitor discovery and crystallography. the ... | 2008 | 18931430 |
| inactivation of rho gtpases by statins attenuates anthrax lethal toxin activity. | anthrax lethal factor (lf), secreted by bacillus anthracis, interacts with protective antigen to form a bipartite toxin (lethal toxin [lt]) that exerts pleiotropic biological effects resulting in subversion of the innate immune response. although the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinases (mkks) are the major intracellular protein targets of lf, the pathology induced by lt is not well understood. the statin family of hmg-coenzyme a reductase inhibitors have potent anti-inflammatory effects ind ... | 2009 | 18936176 |
| the cytoplasmic domain of anthrax toxin receptor 1 affects binding of the protective antigen. | the protective antigen (pa) component of anthrax toxin binds the i domain of the receptor antxr1. integrin i domains convert between open and closed conformations that bind ligand with high and low affinities, respectively; this process is regulated by signaling from the cytoplasmic domains. to assess whether intracellular signals might influence the interaction between antxr1 and pa, we compared two splice variants of antxr1 that differ only in their cytoplasmic domains. we found that cells exp ... | 2009 | 18936178 |
| the mechanism of bacillus anthracis intracellular germination requires multiple and highly diverse genetic loci. | in an effort to better understand the mechanisms by which bacillus anthracis establishes disease, experiments were undertaken to identify the genes essential for intracellular germination. eighteen diverse genetic loci were identified via an enrichment protocol using a transposon-mutated library of b. anthracis spores, which was screened for mutants delayed in intracellular germination. fourteen transposon mutants were identified in genes not previously associated with b. anthracis germination a ... | 2009 | 18936179 |
| cell wall anchor structure of bcpa pili in bacillus anthracis. | assembly of pili in gram-positive bacteria and their attachment to the cell wall envelope are mediated by sortases. in bacillus cereus and its close relative bacillus anthracis, the major pilin protein bcpa is cleaved between the threonine and the glycine of its c-terminal lpxtg motif sorting signal by the pilin-specific sortase d. the resulting acyl enzyme intermediate is relieved by the nucleophilic attack of the side-chain amino group of lysine within the ypkn motif of another bcpa subunit. c ... | 2008 | 18940793 |
| human anthrax in turkey from 1990 to 2007. | anthrax is an endemic disease in turkey, among other countries of the world. the potential of bacillus anthracis as a bioterrorism agent makes anthrax an important global issue. the aim of the present study was to review human anthrax in turkey during the last decade. human anthrax cases recorded from 1990 to 2005 were obtained from the website of the turkish ministry of health, and those recorded between 1995 and 2005 were plotted on a map of turkey. papers on anthrax published from turkey betw ... | 2009 | 18945187 |
| association and decontamination of bacillus spores in a simulated drinking water system. | the objective of this work was to elucidate the disinfectant susceptibility of bacillus anthracis sterne (ba) and a commercial preparation of bacillus thuringiensis (bt) spores associated with a simulated drinking water system. biofilms composed of indigenous water system bacteria were accumulated on copper and polyvinyl chloride (pvc) pipe material surfaces in a low-flow pipe loop and uniformly mixed tank reactor (cdc biofilm reactor). application of a distributed shear during spore contact res ... | 2008 | 18947853 |
| the complete genome sequence of bacillus anthracis ames "ancestor". | the pathogenic bacterium bacillus anthracis has become the subject of intense study as a result of its use in a bioterrorism attack in the united states in september and october 2001. previous studies suggested that b. anthracis ames ancestor, the original ames fully virulent plasmid-containing isolate, was the ideal reference. this study describes the complete genome sequence of that original isolate, derived from a sample kept in cold storage since 1981. | 2009 | 18952800 |
| capsular localization of the cryptococcus neoformans polysaccharide component galactoxylomannan. | cryptococcus neoformans capsular polysaccharide is composed of at least two components, glucuronoxylomannan (gxm) and galactoxylomannans (galxm). although gxm has been extensively studied, little is known about the location of galxm in the c. neoformans capsule, in part because there are no serological reagents specific to this antigen. to circumvent the poor immunogenicity of galxm, this antigen was conjugated to protective antigen from bacillus anthracis as a protein carrier. the resulting con ... | 2009 | 18952901 |
| using mahalanobis distance to compare genomic signatures between bacterial plasmids and chromosomes. | plasmids are ubiquitous mobile elements that serve as a pool of many host beneficial traits such as antibiotic resistance in bacterial communities. to understand the importance of plasmids in horizontal gene transfer, we need to gain insight into the 'evolutionary history' of these plasmids, i.e. the range of hosts in which they have evolved. since extensive data support the proposal that foreign dna acquires the host's nucleotide composition during long-term residence, comparison of nucleotide ... | 2008 | 18953039 |
| sequential detection of salmonella typhimurium and bacillus anthracis spores using magnetoelastic biosensors. | multiple phage-based magnetoelastic (me) biosensors were simultaneously monitored for the detection of different biological pathogens that were sequentially introduced to the measurement system. the biosensors were formed by immobilizing phage and 1mg/ml bsa (blocking agent) onto the magnetoelastic resonator's surface. the detection system included a reference sensor as a control, an e2 phage-coated sensor specific to s. typhimurium, and a jrb7 phage-coated sensor specific to b. anthracis spores ... | 2009 | 18954970 |
| electrical microarrays for highly sensitive detection of multiplex pcr products from biological agents. | for the sensitive detection of amplicons derived from diagnostic pcr, a novel electrical low-density microarray is applied and compared to state-of-the-art quantitative real-time pcr. the principle of the electrochemical method and the effective use for analysis are described. interdigitated array gold electrodes (ida-e) embedded into a silicon chip are the core technology of the fully automated compact biosensor system, basing on enzyme coupled electrochemical detection. the biointerface is bui ... | 2009 | 18954971 |
| role of anthrax toxins in dissemination, disease progression, and induction of protective adaptive immunity in the mouse aerosol challenge model. | anthrax toxins significantly contribute to anthrax disease pathogenesis, and mechanisms by which the toxins affect host cellular responses have been identified with purified toxins. however, the contribution of anthrax toxin proteins to dissemination, disease progression, and subsequent immunity after aerosol infection with spores has not been clearly elucidated. to better understand the role of anthrax toxins in pathogenesis in vivo and to investigate the contribution of antibody to toxin prote ... | 2009 | 18955474 |
| four superoxide dismutases contribute to bacillus anthracis virulence and provide spores with redundant protection from oxidative stress. | the bacillus anthracis genome encodes four superoxide dismutases (sods), enzymes capable of detoxifying oxygen radicals. that two of these sods, sod15 and soda1, are present in the outermost layers of the b. anthracis spore is indicated by previous proteomic analyses of the exosporium. given the requirement that spores must survive interactions with reactive oxygen species generated by cells such as macrophages during infection, we hypothesized that sod15 and soda1 protect the spore from oxidati ... | 2009 | 18955476 |
| structural and functional analysis of asbf: origin of the stealth 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid subunit for petrobactin biosynthesis. | petrobactin, a virulence-associated siderophore produced by bacillus anthracis, chelates ferric iron through the rare 3,4-isomer of dihydroxybenzoic acid (3,4-dhba). most catechol siderophores, including bacillibactin and enterobactin, use 2,3-dhba as a biosynthetic subunit. significantly, siderocalin, a factor involved in human innate immunity, sequesters ferric siderophores bearing the more typical 2,3-dhba moiety, thereby impeding uptake of iron by the pathogenic bacterial cell. in contrast, ... | 2008 | 18955706 |
| proton-coupled protein transport through the anthrax toxin channel. | anthrax toxin consists of three proteins (approx. 90kda each): lethal factor (lf); oedema factor (of); and protective antigen (pa). the former two are enzymes that act when they reach the cytosol of a targeted cell. to enter the cytosol, however, which they do after being endocytosed into an acidic vesicle compartment, they require the third component, pa. pa (or rather its proteolytically generated fragment pa63) forms at low ph a heptameric beta-barrel channel, (pa63)7, through which lf and of ... | 2009 | 18957378 |
| anthrax edema toxin modulates pka- and creb-dependent signaling in two phases. | anthrax edema toxin (edtx) is an adenylate cyclase which operates in the perinuclear region of host cells. however, the action of edtx is poorly understood, especially at molecular level. the ability of edtx to modulate camp-dependent signaling was studied in jurkat t cells and was compared with that of other camp-rising agents: bordetella pertussis adenylate cyclase toxin, cholera toxin and forskolin. | 2008 | 18958164 |
| anthrax in transit; practical experience and intellectual exchange. | focusing on three anglo-american outbreaks of industrial anthrax, this essay engages the question of how local circumstances influenced the transmission of scientific knowledge in the late nineteenth century. walpole (massachusetts), glasgow, and bradford (yorkshire) served as important nodes of transnational investigation into anthrax. knowledge about the morphology and behavior of bacillus anthracis changed little while in transit between these nodes, even during complex debates about the natu ... | 2008 | 18959192 |
| repeatability and pattern recognition of bacterial fatty acid profiles generated by direct mass spectrometric analysis of in situ thermal hydrolysis/methylation of whole cells. | direct ci mass spectrometry profiling of fatty acid methyl esters (fames) from in situ thermal hydrolysis/methylation (thm) of whole bacterial cells with tetramethylammonium hydroxide (tmah) has been demonstrated as a potential method for real time and fieldable detection/identification of microorganisms. bacillus anthracis (ames), yersinia pestis (nair. kenya), vibrio cholerae (e1 tor), brucella melitensis (abortus wild) and francisella tularensis (lvs vaccine) were profiled by this method duri ... | 2003 | 18968943 |
| towards advanced chemical and biological nanosensors-an overview. | this paper reviews recent developments in the design and application of two types of optical nanosensor, those based on: (1) localized surface plasmon resonance (lspr) spectroscopy and (2) surface-enhanced raman scattering (sers). the performance of these sensors is discussed in the context of biological and chemical sensing. the first section addresses the lspr sensors. arrays of nanotriangles were evaluated and characterized using realistic protein/ligand interactions. isolated, single nanopar ... | 2005 | 18970187 |
| bacillus anthracis o-succinylbenzoyl-coa synthetase: reaction kinetics and a novel inhibitor mimicking its reaction intermediate. | o-succinylbenzoyl-coa (osb-coa) synthetase (ec 6.2.1.26) catalyzes the atp-dependent condensation of o-succinylbenzoate (osb) and coa to form osb-coa, the fourth step of the menaquinone biosynthetic pathway in bacillus anthracis. gene knockout studies have highlighted this enzyme as a potential target for the discovery of new antibiotics. here we report the first studies on the kinetic mechanism of b. anthracis osb-coa synthetase, classifying it as an ordered bi uni uni bi ping-pong mechanism. t ... | 2008 | 18973344 |
| germline humanization of a non-human primate antibody that neutralizes the anthrax toxin, by in vitro and in silico engineering. | fab 35pa83 is an antibody fragment of non-human primate origin that neutralizes the anthrax lethal toxin. human antibodies are usually preferred when clinical use is envisioned, even though their framework regions (fr) may carry mutations introduced during affinity maturation. these hypermutations can be immunogenic and therefore fr that are encoded by human germline genes, encountered in igms and thus part of the "self" proteins, are preferable. accordingly, the proportion of fr residues in 35p ... | 2008 | 18976662 |
| kinetic and x-ray structural evidence for negative cooperativity in substrate binding to nicotinate mononucleotide adenylyltransferase (nmat) from bacillus anthracis. | biosynthesis of nad(p) in bacteria occurs either de novo or through one of the salvage pathways that converge at the point where the reaction of nicotinate mononucleotide (namn) with atp is coupled to the formation of nicotinate adenine dinucleotide (naad) and inorganic pyrophosphate. this reaction is catalyzed by nicotinate mononucleotide adenylyltransferase (nmat), which is essential for bacterial growth, making it an attractive drug target for the development of new antibiotics. steady-state ... | 2009 | 18977360 |
| modeling the activity of furin inhibitors using artificial neural network. | quantitative structure-activity relationship (qsar) models were constructed for predicting the inhibition of furin-dependent processing of anthrax protective antigen of substituted guanidinylated aryl 2,5-dideoxystreptamines. molecular descriptors calculated by e-dragon and recon were subjected to variable reduction using the unsupervised forward selection (ufs) algorithm. the variables were then used as input for qsar model generation using partial least squares and back-propagation neural netw ... | 2009 | 18977558 |
| trends in prokaryotic evolution revealed by comparison of closely related bacterial and archaeal genomes. | in order to explore microevolutionary trends in bacteria and archaea, we constructed a data set of 41 alignable tight genome clusters (atgcs). we show that the ratio of the medians of nonsynonymous to synonymous substitution rates (dn/ds) that is used as a measure of the purifying selection pressure on protein sequences is a stable characteristic of the atgcs. in agreement with previous findings, parasitic bacteria, notwithstanding the sometimes dramatic genome shrinkage caused by gene loss, are ... | 2009 | 18978059 |
| discriminating virulence mechanisms among bacillus anthracis strains by using a murine subcutaneous infection model. | bacillus anthracis strains harboring virulence plasmid pxo1 that encodes the toxin protein protective antigen (pa), lethal factor, and edema factor and virulence plasmid pxo2 that encodes capsule biosynthetic enzymes exhibit different levels of virulence in certain animal models. in the murine model of pulmonary infection, b. anthracis virulence was capsule dependent but toxin independent. we examined the role of toxins in subcutaneous (s.c.) infections using two different genetically complete ( ... | 2009 | 18981254 |
| sequential b-cell epitopes of bacillus anthracis lethal factor bind lethal toxin-neutralizing antibodies. | the bipartite anthrax lethal toxin (letx) consisting of protective antigen (pa) and lethal factor (lf) is a major virulence factor contributing to death from systemic bacillus anthracis infection. the current vaccine elicits antibodies directed primarily to pa; however, in experimental settings serologic responses to lf can neutralize letx and contribute to protection against infection. the goals of the present study were to identify sequential b-cell epitopes of lf and to determine the capacity ... | 2009 | 18981257 |
| [evaluation of in vitro antibacterial activity of fosmidomycin and its derivatives]. | unlike the mammals, some species of pathogenic microorganisms synthesize isoprenoids by the mevalonate-independent pathway known as the methyl-erythritol phosphate pathway (mep). the macromolecules of the polyprenyl compounds play an essential role in the metabolism of the microbial cell. therefore, the mep enzymes can be targets for new antibiotics. antibacterial activity of fosmidomycin, an inhibitor of 1-deoxy-d-xylulose-5-phosphate reductoisomerase (dxr), the key enzyme of mep in isoprenoid ... | 2007 | 18986018 |
| evaluation of 23 cutaneous anthrax patients in eastern anatolia, turkey: diagnosis and risk factors. | anthrax is a potentially fatal zoonotic disease. the diagnosis of cutaneous anthrax (ca) may be very difficult, particularly in atypical presentations and nonendemic regions. | 2008 | 18986350 |
| development and field testing of a mobile chlorine dioxide generation system for the decontamination of buildings contaminated with bacillus anthracis. | the numerous buildings that became contaminated with bacillus anthracis (the bacterium causing the disease anthrax) in 2001, and more recent b. anthracis - related events, point to the need to have effective decontamination technologies for buildings contaminated with biological threat agents. the u.s. government developed a portable chlorine dioxide (clo(2)) generation system to decontaminate buildings contaminated with b. anthracis spores, and this so-called mobile decontamination trailer (mdt ... | 2009 | 18990488 |
| adverse events after anthrax vaccination reported to the vaccine adverse event reporting system (vaers), 1990-2007. | during the period march 1, 1998 to january 14, 2007, approximately 6 million doses of anthrax vaccine adsorbed (ava) vaccine were administered. as of january 16, 2007, 4753 reports of adverse events following receipt of ava vaccination had been submitted to the vaccine adverse event reporting system (vaers). taken together, reports to vaers did not definitively link any serious unexpected risk to this vaccine, and review of death and serious reports did not show a distinctive pattern indicative ... | 2009 | 18992783 |
| evidence-based spectrum of antimicrobial activity for disinfection of bronchoscopes. | processing of bronchoscopes after a physical examination has to eliminate all micro-organisms that could have contaminated the endoscope and that may harm the following patient. the aim of this analysis is to define those micro-organisms that may contaminate the bronchoscope during the examination and that may cause disease in other patients. | 2008 | 18994685 |
| a simple method for the rapid removal of bacillus anthracis spores from dna preparations. | this study establishes a filtration method for the safe removal of bacillus anthracis spores which may contaminate dna preparations. centrifugal filtration with 0.1-microm filter units can be used following extraction of dna from b. anthracis spores to render samples safe without compromising the sensitivity of diagnostic real-time pcr assays for b. anthracis. | 2009 | 18996156 |
| surface sampling of spores in dry-deposition aerosols. | the ability to reliably and reproducibly sample surfaces contaminated with a biological agent is a critical step in measuring the extent of contamination and determining if decontamination steps have been successful. the recovery operations following the 2001 attacks with bacillus anthracis spores were complicated by the fact that no standard sample collection format or decontamination procedures were established. recovery efficiencies traditionally have been calculated based upon biological age ... | 2009 | 18997021 |
| after the anthrax. | | 2008 | 18998336 |
| a multi-level spatial clustering algorithm for detection of disease outbreaks. | in this paper, we proposed a multi-level spatial clustering (msc) algorithm for rapid detection of emerging disease outbreaks prospectively. we used the semi-synthetic data for algorithm evaluation. we applied bard algorithm [1] to generate outbreak counts for simulation of aerosol release of anthrax. we compared msc with two spatial clustering algorithms: kulldorff's spatial scan statistic [2] and bayesian spatial scan statistic [3]. the evaluation results showed that the areas under roc had no ... | 2008 | 18999304 |
| macrophage uptake, intracellular localization, and degradation of poly-gamma-d-glutamic acid, the capsular antigen of bacillus anthracis. | bacillus anthracis is surrounded by a capsular polypeptide composed of poly-gamma-d-glutamic acid (pga). this antiphagocytic capsule is an essential virulence factor and is shed into body fluids during a murine model of pulmonary anthrax. our previous studies of a murine model for antigen clearance showed that purified pga accumulates in the liver and spleen, most notably in splenic macrophages and the kupffer cells and sinusoidal endothelial cells of the liver. although the tissue and cellular ... | 2009 | 19001075 |
| genetic vaccines for anthrax based on recombinant adeno-associated virus vectors. | bacillus anthracis represents a formidable bioterrorism and biowarfare threat for which new vaccines are needed with improved safety and efficacy over current options. toward this end, we created recombinant adeno-associated virus type 1 (raav1) vectors containing synthetic genes derived from the protective antigen (pa) or lethal factor (lf) of anthrax lethal toxin (letx) and tested them for immunogenicity and induction of toxin-neutralizing antibodies in rabbits. codon-optimized segments encodi ... | 2009 | 19002162 |
| bacillus anthracis peptidoglycan stimulates an inflammatory response in monocytes through the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway. | we hypothesized that the peptidoglycan component of b. anthracis may play a critical role in morbidity and mortality associated with inhalation anthrax. to explore this issue, we purified the peptidoglycan component of the bacterial cell wall and studied the response of human peripheral blood cells. the purified b. anthracis peptidoglycan was free of non-covalently bound protein but contained a complex set of amino acids probably arising from the stem peptide. the peptidoglycan contained a polys ... | 2008 | 19002259 |
| [the anthrax researcher took his life--was he a bioterrorist?]. | | 2008 | 19006871 |
| risk factors associated with anthrax outbreak in animals in north dakota, 2005: a retrospective case-control study. | we identified the risk factors associated with the anthrax outbreak of 2005 in animals in north dakota. | 2008 | 19006977 |
| synthetic and crystallographic studies of a new inhibitor series targeting bacillus anthracis dihydrofolate reductase. | bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax, poses a significant biodefense danger. serious limitations in approved therapeutics and the generation of resistance have produced a compelling need for new therapeutic agents against this organism. bacillus anthracis is known to be insensitive to the clinically used antifolate, trimethoprim, because of a lack of potency against the dihydrofolate reductase enzyme. herein, we describe a novel lead series of b. anthracis dihydrofolate reductase i ... | 2008 | 19007108 |
| development of isothermal taqman assays for detection of biothreat organisms. | taqman probe (dual-labeled dna probe)-based real-time detection, one of the most sensitive and specific fluorescent detection methods, has been widely utilized in conjunction with polymerase chain reaction (pcr). helicase-dependent amplification (hda) is an isothermal amplification technology that has a similar reaction scheme to pcr, but replaces thermocycling with a helicase capable of unwinding a dna duplex. here we describe a novel isothermal real-time detection method (hda-taqman) that comb ... | 2008 | 19007339 |
| responding to a bioterrorism attack-one scenario: part 2. | this article continues the discussions introduced in the earlier article submitted to the health care manager that is titled epidemic simulation for syndromic surveillance, where a format for analysis of the incidence of a bioterrorist attack was presented. part 2 of this series provides a discussion of the observed outcomes from the simulation techniques. this simulation was conducted as part of a federal grant award administered through the center for biological defense at the university of so ... | 2008 | 19011411 |
| transcriptional and apoptotic responses of thp-1 cells to challenge with toxigenic, and non-toxigenic bacillus anthracis. | bacillus anthracis secretes several virulence factors targeting different host organs and cell types during inhalational anthrax infection. the bacterial expression of a key virulence factor, lethal toxin (letx) is closely tied to another factor, edema toxin (edtx). both are transcribed on the same virulence plasmid (pxo1) and both have been the subject of much individual study. their combined effect during virulent anthrax likely modulates both the global transcriptional and the phenotypic resp ... | 2008 | 19014542 |
| inhibition of methionyl-trna synthetase by rep8839 and effects of resistance mutations on enzyme activity. | rep8839 is a selective inhibitor of methionyl-trna synthetase (metrs) with antibacterial activity against a variety of gram-positive organisms. we determined rep8839 potency against staphylococcus aureus metrs and assessed its selectivity for bacterial versus human orthologs of metrs. the inhibition constant (k(i)) of rep8839 was 10 pm for staphylococcus aureus metrs. inhibition of metrs by rep8839 was competitive with methionine and uncompetitive with atp. thus, high physiological atp levels wo ... | 2009 | 19015366 |
| novel acyl phosphate mimics that target plsy, an essential acyltransferase in gram-positive bacteria. | plsy is a recently discovered acyltransferase that executes an essential step in membrane phospholipid biosynthesis in gram- positive bacteria. by using a bioisosteric replacement approach to generate substrate-based inhibitors of plsy as potential novel antibacterial agents, a series of stabilized acyl phosphate mimetics, including acyl phosphonates, acyl alpha,alpha-difluoromethyl phosphonates, acyl phosphoramides, reverse amide phosphonates, acyl sulfamates, and acyl sulfamides were designed ... | 2008 | 19016283 |
| identification, characterization and activation mechanism of a tyrosine kinase of bacillus anthracis. | bacillus subtilis has three active tyrosine kinases, ptka, ptkb and mcsb, which play an important role in the physiology of the bacterium. genome sequence analysis and biochemical experiments indicated that the ortholog of mcsb, bas0080, is the only active tyrosine kinase present in bacillus anthracis. the autophosphorylation of mcsb of b. anthracis was enhanced in the presence of an activator protein mcsa (bas0079), a property similar to that reported for b. subtilis. however, the process of en ... | 2008 | 19016839 |