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Toxins
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Bacillus anthracis Toxins
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Bacillus anthracis Toxins

A special issue of Toxins (ISSN 2072-6651). This special issue belongs to the section "Bacterial Toxins".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (18 August 2023) | Viewed by 1327

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Weiming Ouyang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Division of Biotechnology Review and Research II, Office of Biotechnology Products, Office of Pharmaceutical Quality, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD 20993, USA
Interests: Bacillus anthracis toxins

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Anthrax is a life-threatening disease caused by an infection with Bacillus anthracis. The pXO1 virulence plasmid of B. anthracis expresses a binary anthrax toxin comprising a protective antigen (PA) and two enzymatic moieties, edema factor (EF) and lethal factor (LF). PA binds surface receptors on the host cells, mediating the translocation of the enzymatic moieties into the cytoplasm of the host cells. LF disrupts critical cellular signaling pathways via its zinc-dependent metalloprotease activity, which specifically cleaves mitogen-activated protein kinases, NACHT leucine-rich repeat protein 1 (NLRP1) and the regulatory subunits of phosphoinositide-3 kinase. EF is a Ca2+ and calmodulin-dependent adenylate cyclase that increases the level of cAMP in the host cell, disrupting water homeostasis, intracellular signaling pathways and macrophage function. This Special Issue of Toxins aims to provide a scientific platform for scientists performing fundamental, applied and translational research related to the Bacillus anthracis toxins. This Special Issue will include original studies, reviews and method papers on all research areas of the Bacillus anthracis toxins.

Dr. Weiming Ouyang
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short 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 thoroughly refereed through a double-blind 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 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • anthrax
  • lethal toxin
  • edema toxin
  • MAPK
  • MKK
  • NLRP1
  • PI-3K

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

13 pages, 1224 KiB  
Article
Development of a New Cell-Based AP-1 Gene Reporter Potency Assay for Anti-Anthrax Toxin Therapeutics
by Weiming Ouyang, Tao Xie, Hui Fang and David M. Frucht
Toxins 2023, 15(9), 528; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins15090528 - 28 Aug 2023
Viewed by 1074
Abstract
Anthrax toxin is a critical virulence factor of Bacillus anthracis. The toxin comprises protective antigen (PA) and two enzymatic moieties, edema factor (EF) and lethal factor (LF), forming bipartite lethal toxin (LT) and edema toxin (ET). PA binds cellular surface receptors and [...] Read more.
Anthrax toxin is a critical virulence factor of Bacillus anthracis. The toxin comprises protective antigen (PA) and two enzymatic moieties, edema factor (EF) and lethal factor (LF), forming bipartite lethal toxin (LT) and edema toxin (ET). PA binds cellular surface receptors and is required for intracellular translocation of the enzymatic moieties. For this reason, anti-PA antibodies have been developed as therapeutics for prophylaxis and treatment of human anthrax infection. Assays described publicly for the control of anti-PA antibody potency quantify inhibition of LT-mediated cell death or the ET-induced increase in c-AMP levels. These assays do not fully reflect and/or capture the pathological functions of anthrax toxin in humans. Herein, we report the development of a cell-based gene reporter potency assay for anti-PA antibodies based on the rapid LT-induced degradation of c-Jun protein, a pathogenic effect that occurs in human cells. This new assay was developed by transducing Hepa1c1c7 cells with an AP-1 reporter lentiviral construct and has been qualified for specificity, accuracy, repeatability, intermediate precision, and linearity. This assay not only serves as a bioassay for LT activity, but has applications for characterization and quality control of anti-PA therapeutic antibodies or other products that target the AP-1 signaling pathway. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bacillus anthracis Toxins)
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