Implications of autophagy in anthrax pathogenicity.
The etiological agent for anthrax is Bacillus anthracis, which produces lethal toxin (LT) that exerts a myriad of effects on many immune cells. In our previous study, it was demonstrated that LT and protective antigen (PA) induce autophagy in mammalian cells. Preliminary results suggest that autophagy may function as a cellular defense mechanism against LT-mediated toxemia. This degradation pathway may also be relevant to other aspects of the immune response in both innate and adaptive immunity. Understanding the role of autophagy in response to anthrax infection and the possibility of modulating this degradation pathway as potential countermeasures are subjects for further investigation.
Tan
Yian Kim
YK
DSO National Laboratories, Singapore, Singapore.
Vu
Hao A
HA
Kusuma
Caroline M
CM
Wu
Aiguo
A
D000818:Animals; D000881:Anthrax / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000633:toxicity; D001343:Autophagy / Q000187:drug effects; D001408:Bacillus anthracis / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000633:toxicity; D006801:Humans; D007113:Immunity, Innate / Q000187:drug effects; D010588:Phagosomes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism
D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; C030325:anthrax toxin