Special Issue "Anthrax Toxin"

Guest Editor
Dr. Jean-Nicolas Tournier
Head of the Unité Interactions Hôte-agents pathogens, Institut de Recherche Biomédicale des Armées-CRSSA, 24 avenue des maquis du Grésivaudan, 38702 La Tronche Cedex, France
E-Mail:

Dear Colleagues,

Bacillus anthracis three component toxins have been discovered 65 years ago, but their role in anthrax pathogenesis has been slowly unveiled. Anthrax toxins are formed by the association of three nontoxic factors. These three factors are the protective antigen (PA), which is the ‘binding’ factor orchestrating the entry into the cell, and the lethal factor (LF) and edema factor (EF) which bear respectively a toxic activity (metalloprotease and adenylate cyclase). Intravenous injections of PA + LF (lethal toxin, LT) have been shown to be lethal in several animal models, while intradermal injections of PA + EF (edema toxin, ET) induce edema in the subcutaneous tissues. Crystal structures have been obtained for all three components. Two cell receptors have been proposed and their ubiquitous expression explains the diverse effects of toxins on vertebrate cells. The biochemical and cellular mechanisms of entry have been described, although numerous questions still remain. The list of intracellular toxin targets is constantly growing, suggesting that we only see the tip of the iceberg. At a larger scale, the toxin effects vary from innate and adaptive immune system impairment to vascular shock, largely participating in the virulence. The large corpus of knowledge on anthrax toxins gathered over the last decades has allowed developing medical countermeasures such as chemical inhibitors and monoclonal antibodies. Moreover, the PA forms still the pillar of all anthrax vaccines emphasising the scientific interest of anthrax toxins.

This special issue of ‘Toxins’ intends to cover all aspects of anthrax toxin biology from the basic science up to the medical applications. It is expected to reflect as accurately as possible the vivid aspects of the field.

Dr. Jean-Nicolas Tournier
Guest Editor

Submission

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. Papers will be published continuously (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are refereed through a peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Toxins is an international peer-reviewed Open Access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 500 CHF (Swiss Francs). English correction and/or formatting fees of 250 CHF (Swiss Francs) will be charged in certain cases for those articles accepted for publication that require extensive additional formatting and/or English corrections.

• anthrax toxins
• protective antigen
• lethal factor
• edema factor
• metalloprotease
• adenylyl cyclase