Monoclonal Antibody Therapies against Anthrax

Toxins

Zhaochun Chen¹  Mahtab Moayeri² 

[1] Laboratory of Infectious Diseases National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA;Laboratory of Bacterial Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA;

关键词: Bacillus anthracis;    anti-PA mAbs;    anti-LF mAbs;    anti-EF mAbs;    anti-capsule mAbs;    post-exposure treatment of anthrax;    a cocktail of mAbs;   

DOI  :  10.3390/toxins3081004

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Anthrax is a highly lethal infectious disease caused by the spore-forming bacterium Bacillus anthracis. It not only causes natural infection in humans but also poses a great threat as an emerging bioterror agent. The lethality of anthrax is primarily attributed to the two major virulence factors: toxins and capsule. An extensive effort has been made to generate therapeutically useful monoclonal antibodies to each of the virulence components: protective antigen (PA), lethal factor (LF) and edema factor (EF), and the capsule of B. anthracis. This review summarizes the current status of anti-anthrax mAb development and argues for the potential therapeutic advantage of a cocktail of mAbs that recognize different epitopes or different virulence factors.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2011 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.