title: Anthrax lethal and edema toxins in anthrax pathogenesis.
abstract: The pathophysiological effects resulting from many bacterial diseases are caused by exotoxins released by the bacteria. Bacillus anthracis, a spore-forming bacterium, is such a pathogen, causing anthrax through a combination of bacterial infection and toxemia. B. anthracis causes natural infection in humans and animals and has been a top bioterrorism concern since the 2001 anthrax attacks in the USA. The exotoxins secreted by B. anthracis use capillary morphogenesis protein 2 (CMG2) as the major toxin receptor and play essential roles in pathogenesis during the entire course of the disease. This review focuses on the activities of anthrax toxins and their roles in initial and late stages of anthrax infection.
authors.affiliation: Microbial Pathogenesis Section, Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA. Electronic address: shliu@niaid.nih.gov.
authors.forename: Shihui
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Microbial Pathogenesis Section, Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA. Electronic address: mmoayeri@niaid.nih.gov.
authors.forename: Mahtab
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moayeri
authors.affiliation: Microbial Pathogenesis Section, Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA. Electronic address: sleppla@niaid.nih.gov.
authors.forename: Stephen H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Leppla
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000881:Anthrax / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology*; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D001408:Bacillus anthracis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000378:metabolism; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008954:Models, Biological; D018000:Receptors, Peptide / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D018000:Receptors, Peptide; C030325:anthrax toxin; C070309:anthrax toxin receptors
keywords: anthrax; capillary morphogenesis protein 2; edema toxin; lethal toxin; tumor endothelial marker 8