Bacillus anthracis Protective Antigen

The anthrax bioterrorist attacks that followed the events of September 11th 2001 resulted in a renewed interest BadUus anthracis, the causative agent of this disease. Research has focused on the development of better vaccines than the one currently available. It has been estimated that the aerosolized release of 100 kg of anthrax spores upwind of Washington DC would cause mortalities of 130,000-3,000,000 [63]. Nonetheless, wild-type Bacillus anthracis is susceptible to conventional antibiotics, including penicillin, oxyfloxacin and ciprofloxacin. The problem lies not with the bacterial infection itself, but with three proteins released by the bacteria - protective antigen (PA, 83 kDa), lethal factor (LF, 90 kDa) and edema factor (EF, 89 kDa) -known as anthrax toxins [63]. 

Control wild type (extract stored for 7 days % Control wild type no lethal factor (LF) (extract stored for 2 days) — — Control wild type no LF (extract stored for 7 days) Control pLD-JWl no LF (extract stored for 2 days) —0— Control pLD-JWl no LF (extract stored for 7 days). 

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Bacillus anthracis protective antigen Tobacco leaf No immunogenicity assays. - 86... 

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Very recently the protein structures of ACE with the bound inhibitors Lisinopril (Fig. 4) and Captopril were published (101,102). Also the protein structure of the LF from Bacillus anthracis (PDB-Code 1J7N) caused a sensation, which is now available to the public (Fig. 14b) (103). LF is part of the toxic exotoxin complex composed of three distinct proteins (protective antigen PA, the lethal factor LF and the edema factor EF), and is thought to be the most toxic... 

Anthrax toxin is a bacterial toxin from Bacillus anthracis consisting of three parts protective antigen (PA), lethal factor (LF) and edema factor (EF). Both LF and EF compete for binding sites on the PA protein. The PA protein binds with high affinity to an as yet unknown receptor on macrophages and related cell types. When PA is internalized by the target cells, it functions as a shuttle protein for either EF or LF. Intracellularly, in the acidic environment of the endosome, EF and LF are capable of entering the cytosol by pH-dependent pore formation [139]. 

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