According to a new study, anthrax-causing bacteria can be engineered to shed their invisibility cloaks, making it easier for the immune system to eradicate it.
The study has been published in Microbiology.
Anthrax - Bacillus - Symptoms - Diagnosis - Treatment - FAQs
Anthrax is caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis and spreads when the anthrax spores are inhaled, ingested, or come into contact with the skin lesion on a host.
Anthrax is caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis and spreads when the anthrax spores are inhaled, ingested, or come into contact with the skin lesion on a host.
Bacillus anthracis is a particularly lethal pathogen because it manages to escape recognition by the host's immune system by coating itself with a protective capsule around its surface. A key bacterial enzyme called capsule depolymerase (CapD) anchors the capsule to the cell surface. CapD can also cut and release some of the capsule into small fragments that are thought to interfere with specific parts of the immune system, offering further protection to the bacterium.
Scientists at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases discovered that by engineering B. anthracis to produce higher-than-normal amounts of CapD, the protective capsule is chopped up and released as tiny fragments. The bacterium is left nearly completely unmasked and therefore vulnerable to immediate detection and destruction by the macrophage and neutrophil cells of the immune system.
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B. anthracis is the most commonly mentioned pathogen associated with biological warfare. This bacterium can form resilient spores that survive dormant in the environment for long periods of time. When these spores are aerosolised the bacterium can be very effectively distributed. After human inhalation the spores reactivate and cause severe infection that is usually fatal if left untreated.
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Anthrax, Rabies Warning for China's Quake Zone
China warned Friday of possible outbreaks of rabies and anthrax in its earthquake zone as relief efforts turned toward preventing the threat of disease among stricken survivors.
China warned Friday of possible outbreaks of rabies and anthrax in its earthquake zone as relief efforts turned toward preventing the threat of disease among stricken survivors.
"Many pathogenic bacteria, including B. anthracis, produce a capsule surrounding them that prevents the infected host from killing them, improving their chances of causing disease," he xplained. "Understanding the mechanisms of virulence used by the anthrax bacterium is vital to developing medical countermeasures against it in the event of a biological attack."
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