title: Monoclonal antibody therapies against anthrax.
abstract: Anthrax is a highly lethal infectious disease caused by the spore-forming bacterium Bacillus anthracis. It not only causes natural infection in humans but also poses a great threat as an emerging bioterror agent. The lethality of anthrax is primarily attributed to the two major virulence factors: toxins and capsule. An extensive effort has been made to generate therapeutically useful monoclonal antibodies to each of the virulence components: protective antigen (PA), lethal factor (LF) and edema factor (EF), and the capsule of B. anthracis. This review summarizes the current status of anti-anthrax mAb development and argues for the potential therapeutic advantage of a cocktail of mAbs that recognize different epitopes or different virulence factors.
authors: Laboratory of Infectious Diseases National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. zchen@niaid.nih.gov
authors: Zhaochun
authors: Z
authors: Chen
authors: Mahtab
authors: M
authors: Moayeri
authors: Robert
authors: R
authors: Purcell
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000881:Anthrax / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000276:immunology*; D000992:Antitoxins / Q000276:immunology; D001408:Bacillus anthracis / Q000276:immunology / Q000472:pathogenicity; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000276:immunology*; D000939:Epitopes / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D000992:Antitoxins; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D000939:Epitopes; C030325:anthrax toxin