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Review
. 2011 Aug;3(8):1004-19.
doi: 10.3390/toxins3081004. Epub 2011 Aug 15.

Monoclonal antibody therapies against anthrax

Zhaochun Chen  1 , Mahtab Moayeri, Robert Purcell
Affiliations
Review

Monoclonal antibody therapies against anthrax

Zhaochun Chen et al. Toxins (Basel). 2011 Aug.

Abstract

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.

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

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Comprehensive protection could be achieved by a combination of anti-PA, anti-LF, anti-EF and anti-PGA mAbs that target major steps of the infection process.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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