The primary immunogenic component of the currently approved anthrax vaccine is the protective antigen (PA) unit of the binary toxin system. PA-specific antibodies neutralize anthrax toxins and protect against infection. Recent research has determined that in humans, only antibodies specific for particular determinants are capable of effecting toxin neutralization, and that the neutralizing epit...

The anthrax toxin is a tripartite toxin, where the two enzymatic subunits require the third subunit, the protective antigen (PA), to interact with cells and be escorted to their cytoplasmic targets. PA binds to cells via one of two receptors, TEM8 and CMG2. Interestingly, the toxin times and triggers its own endocytosis, in particular through the heptamerization of PA. Here we show that PA trig...

Three proteins, protective antigen (PA), lethal factor (LF), and edema factor (EF; a calmodulin-dependent adenylate cyclase), compose the lethal (PA + LF) and edema (PA + EF) toxins secreted by Bacillus anthracis. Mutant strains, each deficient in the production of one toxin component, were constructed, and their virulence was then studied. A kanamycin resistance cassette was inserted in each c...

Bacillus anthracis produces a binary toxin composed of protective antigen (PA) and one of two subunits, lethal factor (LF) or edema factor (EF). Most studies have concentrated on induction of toxin-specific antibodies as the correlate of protective immunity, in contrast to which understanding of cellular immunity to these toxins and its impact on infection is limited. We characterized CD4+ T ce...

Bacillus anthracis secretes three polypeptides: protective antigen (PA), lethal factor (LF), and edema factor (EF), which interact at the surface of mammalian cells to form toxic complexes. LF and EF are enzymes that target substrates within the cytosol; PA provides a heptameric pore to facilitate LF and EF transport into the cytosol. Other than administration of antibiotics shortly after expos...

AIMS To evaluate potential exposure to Bacillis anthracis (Ba) spores in sampling/decontamination workers in the aftermath of an anthrax terror attack. METHODS Fifty six serum samples were obtained from workers involved in environmental sampling for Ba spores at the American Media, Inc. (AMI) building in Boca Raton, FL after the anthrax attack there in October 2001. Nineteen sera were drawn f...

This paper describes an attempt for convenient and sensitive detection of Bacillus anthracis with single chain variable fragment (scFv)-based protein chip. Phage display technology was employed to generate scFv by using the protective antigen (PA) of B. anthracis for immunization. V(H) and V(L) genes of the scFv were amplified separately by reverse transcriptase-PCR from mRNA of immunized mice ...

BACKGROUND Anthrax toxin is comprised of protective antigen (PA), lethal factor (LF), and edema factor (EF). These proteins are individually nontoxic; however, when PA assembles with LF and EF, it produces lethal toxin and edema toxin, respectively. Assembly occurs either on cell surfaces or in plasma. In each milieu, PA assembles into a mixture of heptameric and octameric complexes that bind L...

The UK anthrax vaccine is an alum precipitate of a sterile filtrate of Bacillus anthracis Sterne culture (AVP). An increase in shelf life of AVP from 3 to 5 years prompted us to investigate the in vivo potency and the antigen content of 12 batches with a shelf life of 6.4 to 9.9 years and one bulk with a shelf life of 23.8 years. All batches, except for a 9.4-year-old batch, passed the potency ...

A challenge for subunit vaccines whose goal is to elicit CD8(+) cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) is to deliver the antigen to the cytosol of the living cell, where it can be processed for presentation by major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules. Several bacterial toxins have evolved to efficiently deliver catalytic protein moieties to the cytosol of eukaryotic cells. Anthrax letha...