title: Cytoskeleton as an emerging target of anthrax toxins.
abstract: Bacillus anthracis, the agent of anthrax, has gained virulence through its exotoxins produced by vegetative bacilli and is composed of three components forming lethal toxin (LT) and edema toxin (ET). So far, little is known about the effects of these toxins on the eukaryotic cytoskeleton. Here, we provide an overview on the general effects of toxin upon the cytoskeleton architecture. Thus, we shall discuss how anthrax toxins interact with their receptors and may disrupt the interface between extracellular matrix and the cytoskeleton. We then analyze what toxin molecular effects on cytoskeleton have been described, before discussing how the cytoskeleton may help the pathogen to corrupt general cell processes such as phagocytosis or vascular integrity.
authors.affiliation: Unité Interactions Hôte-Agents pathogènes, Institut de Recherche Biomédicale des Armées, Centre de Recherche du Service de Santé des Armées, BP 87, 24 avenue des Maquis du Grésivaudan 38702 La Tronche Cedex, France. yannick.trescos@yahoo.fr
authors.forename: Yannick
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Trescos
authors.forename: Jean-Nicolas
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Tournier
mesh_terms: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000378:metabolism / Q000633:toxicity*; D001408:Bacillus anthracis / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology*; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000633:toxicity*; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000187:drug effects*; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000187:drug effects; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D008840:Microfilament Proteins; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D011485:Protein Binding / Q000187:drug effects; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C473287:ANTXR1 protein, human; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D008840:Microfilament Proteins; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; C030325:anthrax toxin