We characterized an anti-cancer fusion protein consisting of anthrax lethal factor (LF) and the catalytic domain of Pseudomonas exotoxin A by (i) mutating the N-terminal amino acids and by (ii) reductive methylation to dimethylate all lysines. Dimethylation of lysines was achieved quantitatively and specifically without affecting binding of the fusion protein to PA or decreasing the enzymatic a...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Wound infections are often difficult to treat due to various bacterial pathogens. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the common invaders of open wounds. Precise diagnosis of this etiological agent in wound infections is of critical importance particularly in treatment of problematic cases. The existing diagnostic methods have certain limitations particularly related to sp...

Between 1951 and 1959, Sambhu Nath De made crucial discoveries on the pathogenesis of cholera that changed the course of our understanding of the disease. The discovery that cholera is caused by a potent exotoxin (cholera enterotoxin) affecting intestinal permeability, the demonstration that bacteria-free culture filtrates of Vibrio cholerae were enterotoxic, and the development of a reproducib...

Antibiotic resistance is a significant emerging health threat. Exacerbating this problem is the overprescription of antibiotics as well as a lack of development of new antibacterial agents. A paradigm shift toward the development of nonantibiotic agents that target the virulence factors of bacterial pathogens is one way to begin to address the issue of resistance. Of particular interest are com...

Purpose: The success of immunotoxin therapy of cancer is limited by host production of neutralizing antibodies, which are directed toward the Pseudomonas exotoxin A (PE) component. In this proof-ofprinciple study using a well-established murine model, we hypothesized that a newly developed immune depletion regimen consisting of pentostatin plus cyclophosphamide would abrogate anti-immunotoxin

Pseudomonas Exotoxin A (PE) is the most toxic virulence factor of the pathogenic bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This review describes current knowledge about the intoxication pathways of PE. Moreover, PE represents a remarkable example for pathoadaptive evolution, how bacterial molecules have been structurally and functionally optimized under evolutionary pressure to effectively impair and k...

Twenty-one cases of infection with Bacillus cereus are summarised. The histories supplied showed that at least 15 of these were associated with severe or potentially severe symptoms including two deaths. Analysis of the production of exotoxins, including haemolysin and phospholipase, by these strains is given, and the relevance of these metabolites to the severity of the condition is discussed....

Frequency-specific auditory brainstem responses to tone bursts (2-31.5 kHz) and tuning curves were recorded in 8 male rats during their entire life. No significant threshold elevation occurred during the 1st year. Mean age at onset of hearing loss was 20 months, with individual variations ranging from 14 up to 23 months. In most animals, threshold elevations were limited to 20 and 31.5 kHz. At ...

Microbes produce an extraordinary array of microbial defense systems. These include classical antibiotics, metabolic by-products, lytic agents, numerous types of protein exotoxins, and bacteriocins. The abundance and diversity of this potent arsenal of weapons are clear. Less clear are their evolutionary origins and the role they play in mediating microbial interactions. The goal of this review...