AI Article Synopsis
- - The 2001 anthrax attacks highlighted the risks of bioterrorism, leading to the need for improved treatments and diagnostic methods for biological threats.
- - Researchers conducted flux balance analyses on the metabolic networks of three key bioterrorism bacteria (Bacillus anthracis, Francisella tularensis, Yersinia pestis) and identified several metabolic enzymes as potential drug targets.
- - Nine enzymes related to common metabolic pathways were found across these bacteria, suggesting that a mix of targeted antibiotics could create effective treatments against these high-risk bioterrorism agents.
Article Abstract
The 2001 anthrax mail attacks in the United States demonstrated the potential threat of bioterrorism, hence driving the need to develop sophisticated treatment and diagnostic protocols to counter biological warfare. Here, by performing flux balance analyses on the fully-annotated metabolic networks of multiple, whole genome-sequenced bacterial strains, we have identified a large number of metabolic enzymes as potential drug targets for each of the three Category A-designated bioterrorism agents including Bacillus anthracis, Francisella tularensis and Yersinia pestis. Nine metabolic enzymes- belonging to the coenzyme A, folate, phosphatidyl-ethanolamine and nucleic acid pathways common to all strains across the three distinct genera were identified as targets. Antimicrobial agents against some of these enzymes are available. Thus, a combination of cross species-specific antibiotics and common antimicrobials against shared targets may represent a useful combinatorial therapeutic approach against all Category A bioterrorism agents.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3893172 | PMC |
| http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0085195 | PLOS |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Development of Effective Medical Countermeasures Against the Main Biowarfare Agents: The Importance of Antibodies.
Microorganisms
December 2024
Targeted Therapy Team, Institute for Cancer Research, 237 Fulham Road, London SW3 6JB, UK.
The COVID-19 and mpox crisis has reminded the world of the potentially catastrophic consequences of biological agents. Aside from the natural risk, biological agents can also be weaponized or used for bioterrorism. Dissemination in a population or among livestock could be used to destabilize a nation by creating a climate of terror, by negatively impacting the economy and undermining institutions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChemical, biological and nerve gas attacks: need for education among healthcare personnel and medical students; a Swedish regional cross-sectional web-survey.
BMC Med Educ
January 2025
Centre for Disaster Medicine, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Background: Chemical, biological and nerve gas events have a significant impact on public health, necessitating proper education and training. This study investigated the educational needs as perceived by two groups, frontline healthcare workers and medical students, in relation to chemical, biological, and nerve gas events.
Methods: Three distinct web-based cross-sectional surveys were conducted, one each for chemical, biological, and nerve gas events, with each survey following the same structural format including sections on (a) theoretical knowledge assessment, using multiple-choice questions regarding identification, protection, and treatment, (b) perception of threat, using questions based on a 5-point Likert scale to gauge views on threat/preparedness and (c) perception of existing competency, with questions regarding prior education and the need for additional education and training.
Development and validation of a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) assay for the quantification of oximes in KIKO mouse plasma.
J Chromatogr B Analyt Technol Biomed Life Sci
January 2025
United States Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense, 8350 Ricketts Point Road, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21010, USA. Electronic address:
Chemical warfare nerve agents (CWNAs) are potent and irreversible inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase (AChE). Oxime reactivators are an important part of the standard treatment for CWNA exposure as they can reactivate inhibited AChE. Evaluating the oxime candidates of interest in biological samples requires analytical detection methods and oxime reactivators as a class of compounds have historically been notoriously difficult to isolate, detect and analyze in an analytical laboratory, and there are currently no sensitive or robust analytical detection methods in the literature.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArchitecture of the Sap S-layer of revealed by integrative structural biology.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
December 2024
Structural and Molecular Microbiology, Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (VIB)-Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) Center for Structural Biology, Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie, Brussels 1050, Belgium.
is a spore-forming gram-positive bacterium responsible for anthrax, an infectious disease with a high mortality rate and a target of concern due to bioterrorism and long-term site contamination. The entire surface of vegetative cells in exponential or stationary growth phase is covered in proteinaceous arrays called S-layers, composed of Sap or EA1 protein, respectively. The Sap S-layer represents an important virulence factor and cell envelope support structure whose paracrystalline nature is essential for its function.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHealth assessment of sulfur mustard-chemical veterans with various respiratory diseases: The result of a comparative analysis of biological health scores (BHS) through 50 biomarkers.
Int Immunopharmacol
January 2025
Health Equity Research Center, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran; Department of Physiology, Medical Faculty, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address:
Background: Mustard gas as a chemical weapon has been used in wars and its long-term side effects are substantial in the human body. This study aimed to apply an extension of allostatic load, known as biological health score (BHS), including the wear-and-tear of four physiological systems (endocrine, inflammatory, cardiovascular, and metabolic systems) to estimate biological health caused by sulfur mustard (SM) toxicity.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, serum samples were collected from two distinct groups of male individuals including 1) 236 individuals who had been exposed to SM gas during the Iraq-Iran war in 1987.
Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!