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Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and University of Toronto researchers designed a nanoscale assembly of molecules that successfully counteracts and inhibits anthrax toxin in animal and laboratory experiments. Anthrax toxin is a polyvalent protein complex secreted by the anthrax bacterium that inflicts damage to the host organism.

This anthrax inhibitor works by preventing the assembly of toxic enzyme components, thereby blocking the formation of fully assembled anthrax toxin and neutralizing its activity. This mechanism was described by the Rensselaer-Toronto team in the April 23 online edition of the journal Nature Biotechnology.

“Our eventual goal is to use the inhibitor as a human therapeutic for anthrax exposure, one that can stop the toxin from functioning inside the body,” says Ravi Kane, the Merck Associate Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Rensselaer and a principal investigator of the project. “Combining the inhibitor with antibiotic therapy may increase the likelihood of survival for an infected person.”

This novel approach in neutralizing anthrax toxin could be applied in designing potent therapeutics for a variety of pathogens and toxins.

Source: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute News