Crossing of the epithelial barriers by Bacillus anthracis: the Known and the Unknown

Anthrax, caused by Bacillus anthracis, a Gram-positive spore-forming bacterium, is initiated by the entry of spores into the host body. There are three types of human infection: cutaneous, inhalational, and gastrointestinal. For each form, B. anthracis spores need to cross the cutaneous, respiratory...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Frontiers in microbiology Vol. 6; p. 1122
Main Authors: Goossens, Pierre L., Tournier, Jean-Nicolas
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 09.10.2015
Subjects:
Anthrax
Bacterial Infections
Dendritic Cells
Epithelial Cells
Macrophages, Alveolar
Monocytes
Public Health
macrophages
dendritic cells
edema toxin
spores
epithelial cells
bacterial infections
anthrax
lethal toxin
ISSN:1664-302X, 1664-302X
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Anthrax, caused by Bacillus anthracis, a Gram-positive spore-forming bacterium, is initiated by the entry of spores into the host body. There are three types of human infection: cutaneous, inhalational, and gastrointestinal. For each form, B. anthracis spores need to cross the cutaneous, respiratory or digestive epithelial barriers, respectively, as a first obligate step to establish infection. Anthrax is a toxi-infection: an association of toxemia and rapidly spreading infection progressing to septicemia. The pathogenicity of Bacillus anthracis mainly depends on two toxins and a capsule. The capsule protects bacilli from the immune system, thus promoting systemic dissemination. The toxins alter host cell signaling, thereby paralyzing the immune response of the host and perturbing the endocrine and endothelial systems. In this review, we will mainly focus on the events and mechanisms leading to crossing of the respiratory epithelial barrier, as the majority of studies have addressed inhalational infection. We will discuss the critical gaps of knowledge that need to be addressed to gain a comprehensive view of the initial steps of inhalational anthrax. We will then discuss the few data available on B. anthracis crossing the cutaneous and digestive epithelia.
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ObjectType-Review-1
Reviewed by: Gill Diamond, University of Florida, USA; Shivani Agarwal, Northwestern University, USA
Edited by: Diane Williamson, Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, UK
This article was submitted to Infectious Diseases, a section of the journal Frontiers in Microbiology.
ISSN:1664-302X
1664-302X
DOI:10.3389/fmicb.2015.01122