Anthrax Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Anthrax, including details on bacillus anthracis, contagiousness, exposure, effects.

The Bioterrorism Threat and Dual-use Biotechnological Research: An Israeli Perspective.

Friedman D, Rager-Zisman B, Bibi E, Keynan A

Institute for National Security Studies, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel, dudufr@hotmail.com.

Israel has a long history of concern with chemical and biological threats, since several hostile states in the Middle East are likely to possess such weapons. The Twin-Tower terrorist attacks and Anthrax envelope scares of 2001 were a watershed for public perceptions of the threat of unconventional terror in general and of biological terror in particular. New advances in biotechnology will only increase the ability of terrorists to exploit the burgeoning availability of related information to develop ever-more destructive bioweapons. Many areas of modern biological research are unavoidably dual-use by nature. They thus have a great potential for both help and harm; and facilitating the former while preventing the latter remains a serious challenge to researchers and governments alike. This article addresses how Israel might best (1) prevent hostile elements from obtaining, from Israel's biological research system, materials, information and technologies that might facilitate their carrying out a biological attack, while (2) continuing to promote academic openness, excellence and other hallmarks of that system. This important and sensitive issue was assessed by a special national committee, and their recommendations are presented and discussed. One particularly innovative element is the restructuring and use of Israel's extensive biosafety system to also address biosecurity goals, with minimal disruption or delay.

Published 5 March 2010 in Sci Eng Ethics, 16(1): 85-97.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

Articles on Anthrax published 5 March 2010:

Liberty to decide on dual use biomedical research: an acknowledged necessity.   Sci Eng Ethics, 16(1): 43-58.

Humanity entered the twenty-first century with revolutionary achievements in biomedical research. At the same time multiple "dual-use" results have been published. The battle against infectious diseases is meeting new challenges, with newly emerging and re-emerging infections. Both natural disaster epidemics, such as SARS, avian influenza, haemorrhagic fevers, XDR and MDR tuberculosis and many others, and the possibility of intentional mis-use, such as letters containing anthrax ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Anthrax published 3 March 2010:

Selective and potent furin inhibitors protect cells from anthrax without significant toxicity.   Int J Biochem Cell Biol.

Furin and related proprotein convertases cleave the multibasic motifs R-X-R/K/X-R in the precursor proteins and, as a result, transform the latent proproteins into biologically active proteins and peptides. Furin is present both in the intracellular secretory pathway and at the cell surface. Intracellular furin processes its multiple normal cellular targets in the Golgi and secretory vesicle compartments while cell-surface furin appears to be essential only for the processing of certain ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Anthrax published 2 March 2010:

Type-IIA secreted phospholipase A(2) is an endogenous antibiotic-like protein of the host.   Biochimie.

Type-IIA secreted phospholipase A(2) (sPLA(2)-IIA) has been proposed to play a role in the development of inflammatory diseases. It has been shown to release arachidonic acid, the precursor of proinflammatory eicosanoids, to hydrolyze phospholipids of pulmonary surfactant, and to bind to specific receptors located on cell surface membranes. However, the most established biological role of sPLA(2)-IIA is related to its potent bactericidal property in particular toward Gram-positive bacteria. ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Anthrax Lethal Toxin Impairs CD1d-Mediated Antigen Presentation by Targeting the ERK1/2 MAPK Pathway.   Infect Immun.

Lethal toxin (LT) is a critical virulence factor of Bacillus anthracis and an important means by which this bacterium evades the host's immune system. In this study, we demonstrate that CD1d-expressing cells treated with LT have reduced CD1d-mediated antigen presentation. We earlier showed an important role for the mitogen-activated protein kinase ERK1/2 in the regulation of CD1d-mediated antigen presentation and report here that LT impairs antigen presentation by CD1d in an ERK1/2-dependent ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Anthrax published 1 March 2010:

PemK Toxin of Bacillus anthracis Is a Ribonuclease: AN INSIGHT INTO ITS ACTIVE SITE, STRUCTURE, AND FUNCTION.   J Biol Chem, 285(10): 7254-70.

Bacillus anthracis genome harbors a toxin-antitoxin (TA) module encoding pemI (antitoxin) and pemK (toxin). This study describes the rPemK as a potent ribonuclease with a preference for pyrimidines (C/U), which is consistent with our previous study that demonstrated it as a translational attenuator. The in silico structural modeling of the PemK in conjunction with the site-directed mutagenesis confirmed the role of His-59 and Glu-78 as an acid-base couple in mediating the ribonuclease activity. ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Nano aptasensor for protective antigen toxin of anthrax.   Anal Chem, 82(5): 2042-7.

We demonstrate a highly sensitive nano aptasensor for anthrax toxin through the detection of its polypeptide entity, protective antigen (PA toxin) using a PA toxin ssDNA aptamer functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) device. The aptamer was developed in-house by capillary electrophoresis systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (CE-SELEX) and had a dissociation constant (K(d)) of 112 nM. The aptasensor displayed a wide dynamic range spanning up to 800 nM with a ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Exclusion of Kif1c as a candidate gene for anthrax toxin susceptibility.   Microb Pathog.

Different strains of mice possess varying degrees of susceptibility to anthrax lethal toxin (LT). Previous studies have suggested a responsible locus Ltxs1 that contains 10 or more known genes, but functional relevance has been reported for two genes, Kif1c and Nalp1b. In this study, we attempted to determine the involvement of Kif1c in anthrax susceptibility using Kif1c knockout mice. We established Kif1c knockout mice with LT-sensitive 129/Sv-derived embryonic stem cells followed by 13 ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Transport of B. anthracis from the lungs to the draining lymph nodes is a rapid process facilitated by CD11c+ cells.   Microb Pathog.

Inhalational anthrax is established after inhaled B. anthracis spores are transported to the lung-associated lymph nodes. Dendritic cells (CD11c+ cells) located in the lungs are phagocytes that maintain many capabilities consistent with transport. This study investigates the role of dendritic cells as conduits of spores from the lung to the draining lymph nodes. The intratracheally spore-challenged mouse model of inhalational anthrax was utilized to investigate in vivo activities of CD11c+ ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

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