Anthrax, otherwise known as the bacterium Bacillus anthracis, is a deadly serious infectious disease that kills without question if its toxins reach a host's cells.
A new treatment developed by scientists at the University of Pittsburgh could save patients beyond this “point of no return” by reactivating damaged cellular pathways.
Although anthrax is a rare infection, the bacteria remains a looming threat as a biological weapon, so effective treatments outside of antibiotics remain immensely valuable.
Outside of thrash metal circles, anthrax is treated with deadly seriousness. Caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis, this infectious disease kills by releasing toxins into the body that can disrupt organ function and cause sepsis, a life-threatening overeaction by the body’s immune system.
Thankfully, becoming infected with anthrax is rare and isn’t necessarily a death sentence (though inhalation is a more serious infection pathway). If treated with antibiotics, a patient can survive this pernicious disease. However, there are two major ongoing concerns with anthrax. While uncommon in the developed world, anthrax is unfortunately a bacterium of choice for bioweapons. Following the attack on the U.S. on September 11, 2001, letters laced with anthrax circulated through the postal system causing five people to be killed and 17 sickened. The second problem is that early anthrax symptoms are very flu-like, which leads to delayed diagnoses that can significantly decrease a person’s chance at survival.
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While deranged individuals will likely continue to use anthrax against their fellow humans, a new study from the University of Pittsburgh details a new approach that could save infected patients who would’ve otherwise died from the disease. Published in the journal Nature Microbiology, the study showed that this technique can actually reverse what would be lethal cell damage in mice infected with anthrax.
“While only a few people die from anthrax in the United States each year, there is always the concern that the bacterium could be released on a large scale as a bioweapon,” University of Pittsburgh’s Shihui Liu, the senior author of the study, said in a press statement. “Because the early symptoms of anthrax are non-specific and flu-like, the disease often isn’t diagnosed until it’s too late for current treatments to help. We need new approaches to treat this later stage of the disease.”
Typically, antibiotics can neutralize anthrax before its most harmful effects enters cells, but once it’s inside cells—otherwise ominously called “the point of no return”—anthrax will eventually kill the infected person by attacking, or inactivating, enzymes known as MEKs, which cascades from cellular damage to tissue damage and eventually organ damage.
By performing tests on mice with modified MEKs, the team discerned that anthrax killed its host by disrupting two important pathways: ERK, which participates in cellular division, and p38, which is involved in stress-induced defense. In both mice and human cells, three growth factors, which the team says were approved as treatment for other conditions, brought both of these pathways back online, so to speak. Allowing to bring back an infected host that’s already crossed the point of no return.
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“Because lethal toxin breaks MEK proteins by clipping off their ends, we thought that this cellular damage was irreversible,” said Liu. “So we were really surprised to find that specific growth factors were able to reactivate the ERK pathway and rescue the cell.”
Anthrax remains a serious threat as potential bioweapon, but the more that scientists can piece together effective, life-saving treatments, maybe it’s destructive capabilities will one day lose their deadly appeal.
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Darren lives in Portland, has a cat, and writes/edits about sci-fi and how our world works. You can find his previous stuff at Gizmodo and Paste if you look hard enough.