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Link to original content: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26195305/
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Review
. 2015:69:185-208.
doi: 10.1146/annurev-micro-091014-104523. Epub 2015 Jul 16.

Anthrax Pathogenesis

Mahtab Moayeri  1 , Stephen H Leppla  1 , Catherine Vrentas  1 , Andrei P Pomerantsev  1 , Shihui Liu  1
Affiliations
Review

Anthrax Pathogenesis

Mahtab Moayeri et al. Annu Rev Microbiol. 2015.

Abstract

Anthrax is caused by the spore-forming, gram-positive bacterium Bacillus anthracis. The bacterium's major virulence factors are (a) the anthrax toxins and (b) an antiphagocytic polyglutamic capsule. These are encoded by two large plasmids, the former by pXO1 and the latter by pXO2. The expression of both is controlled by the bicarbonate-responsive transcriptional regulator, AtxA. The anthrax toxins are three polypeptides-protective antigen (PA), lethal factor (LF), and edema factor (EF)-that come together in binary combinations to form lethal toxin and edema toxin. PA binds to cellular receptors to translocate LF (a protease) and EF (an adenylate cyclase) into cells. The toxins alter cell signaling pathways in the host to interfere with innate immune responses in early stages of infection and to induce vascular collapse at late stages. This review focuses on the role of anthrax toxins in pathogenesis. Other virulence determinants, as well as vaccines and therapeutics, are briefly discussed.

Keywords: anthrax toxins; edema factor; lethal factor; protective antigen.

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