Project description:The advent of animal husbandry and hunting increased human exposure to zoonotic pathogens. To understand how a zoonotic disease influenced human evolution, we studied changes in human expression of anthrax toxin receptor 2 (ANTXR2), which encodes a cell surface protein necessary for Bacillus anthracis virulence toxins to cause anthrax disease. In immune cells, ANTXR2 was 8-fold down-regulated in all available human samples compared to non-human primates, indicating regulatory changes early in the evolution of modern humans. We also observed multiple genetic signatures consistent with recent positive selection driving a European-specific decrease in ANTXR2 expression in several non-immune tissues affected by anthrax toxins. Our observations fit a model in which humans adapted to anthrax disease following early ecological changes associated with hunting and scavenging, as well as a second period of adaptation after the rise of modern agriculture.
Project description:We found that intrathecal injection of anthrax edema toxin (ET), causes analgesia in adult B6J mice. In order to determine if DRG neuron transcriptional responses play a role in pain blockade, we performed a bulk RNA-seq experiment on dissected mouse DRG neurons. We report that anthrax edema toxin causes transcriptional responses in DRG neurons 2h after in vivo administration
Project description:The activity of known anthrax lethal toxin is insufficient to account the effects on functions of cardiomyocytes. In vivo and in vitro studies showed that Anthrax lethal toxin (LeTx) induce heart damage We used microarrays to detail the global programme of gene expression underlying cellularisation and identified distinct classes of up-regulated and down-regulated genes during this process.
Project description:Using RNA-seq, we report here that anthrax lethal toxin (LeTx) induces immunosuppression in human lung epithelial cell line A549 and monocytic cell line U937.
Project description:From article abstract: Inhalational anthrax is caused by spores of the bacterium Bacillus anthracis (B. anthracis), and is an extremely dangerous disease that can kill unvaccinated victims within 2 weeks. Modern antibiotic-based therapy can increase the survival rate to ~50%, but only if administered presymptomatically (within 24-48 h of exposure). To discover host signaling responses to presymptomatic anthrax, label-free quantitative phosphoproteomics via liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry was used to compare spleens from uninfected and spore-challenged mice over a 72 h time-course. Late-stage (48-72 h post-challenge) Sterne strain (lethal) infections resulted in global alterations to the spleen phosphoproteome. In contrast, delta-Sterne strain (asymptomatic; missing the anthrax toxin) infections resulted in 188 (5.8%) significantly altered (q<0.05) phosphopeptides. Twenty-six highly tentative phosphorylation responses to early-stage (24 h post-challenge) anthrax were discovered (q<0.5), and ten of these originated from eight proteins that have known roles in the host immune response. These tentative early-anthrax host response signaling events within mouse spleens may translate into presymptomatic diagnostic biomarkers of human anthrax detectable within circulating immune cells, and could aid in the identification of pathogenic mechanisms and therapeutic targets. [Molecular & Cellular Proteomics 10: 10.1074/mcp.M110.000927, 1–11, 2011. The files in this dataset are exactly the same files that were originally uploaded to Proteome Commons Tranche as described in the article.]
Project description:Enhanced susceptibility of A/J mice to death by systemic anthrax lethal toxin (LeTx) administration compared to the C57BL/6 strain was observed. In this study we investigated whether systemic exposure of mice to LeTx would induce gene expression changes associated with vascular/capillary leakage in lung tissue. Lungs of the less susceptible C57BL/6 strain showed 80% fewer differentially expressed genes compared to lungs of the more sensitive A/J strain.
Project description:Enhanced susceptibility of A/J mice to death by systemic anthrax lethal toxin (LeTx) administration compared to the C57BL/6 strain was observed. In this study we investigated whether systemic exposure of mice to LeTx would induce gene expression changes associated with vascular/capillary leakage in lung tissue. Lungs of the less susceptible C57BL/6 strain showed 80% fewer differentially expressed genes compared to lungs of the more sensitive A/J strain. Total RNA obtained from lung tissue of C57Bl/6 and A/J strain mice exposed for 6 and 12 hrs to wild-type and mutant Bacillus anthracis.
Project description:Bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax, secretes three toxin proteins: protective antigen (PA), lethal factor (LF), and edema factor (EF). PA is a transporter of LF and EF into host cells by receptor-mediated endocytosis. LF is a metalloprotease that cleaves mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) kinases (MKK), while EF is an adenylate cyclase, which converts ATP to cAMP. We used microarrays to decipher the specific gene regulation in edema toxin (ET), the complex of EF and PA, treated mouse bone marrow derived macrophages. Keywords: Time course
Project description:Human microvascular endothelial cells (HMVEC) treated with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), Antrhax Edema Toxin (ET), or the Epac activator, 8-pCPT-2'-O-Me-cAMP (8CPT) Human microvascular endothelial cells (HMVEC) were treated with VEGF alone or VEGF in combination with either the the Epac-specific cAMP-mimetic, 8-pCPT-2'-O-Me-cAMP (8CPT), or anthrax edema toxin (ET), an adenylyl cyclase. ET or 8CPT can inhibit VEGF-mediated chemotaxis and angiogenesis. The goal of the study was to identify genes regulated by cAMP production (ET) or by activation of Epac/Rap (8CPT) that may mitigate the effects of VEGF treatment.
Project description:To promote infections, pathogens exploit host cell machineries including structural elements of the plasma membrane. Studying these interactions and identifying molecular players is an ideal way to gain insights into the fundamental biology of the host cell. Here, we used the anthrax toxin to screen a library of 1500 regulatory, cell surface, and membrane trafficking genes for their involvement in the intoxication process. We found that ER-Golgi localized proteins TMED2 and TMED10 are required for toxin oligomerization at the plasma-membrane of human cells, an essential step dependant on localization to cholesterol-rich lipid nanodomains. Biochemical, morphological and mechanistic analyses showed that TMED2 and TMED10 are essential components of a complex that operates the exchange of both cholesterol and ceramides at ER-Golgi membrane contact sites. Overall, this study of anthrax intoxication led to the discovery that lipid compositional remodelling at ER-Golgi interfaces fully controls the formation of functional membrane nanodomains at the cell surface.