Use of Anthrax Toxin, or its Variants to Modify Immunity

This invention has widespread applicability in suppressing or modulating detrimental immunity in autoimmunity, allergy, and transplantation. Bacillus anthracis, the etiological agent of anthrax, culminates in system inflammation, septic shock-like symptoms, and eventually death. The chief pathogenic component of B. anthracis is the lethal toxin (LT). LT has been shown to disrupt components of the MAP-kinase signaling pathway, which are crucial to the signal transduction pathways in mammalian cells, in specific cells of the immune system. LT exerts profound effects on the antigen-presenting cells of the immune system and results in impaired innate and adaptive immunity. LT and its variants dramatically suppress immune response. The advantages of this technology include: (1) the suppression of the immunity is specific in disrupting precise sites in the MAP-kinase pathway, and (2) the advantage of being able to suppress multiple MAP-kinase signaling pathways at once, using a single molecule.

Inventors: Jairam Lingappa, Bali Palendran, Anshu Agrawel, Conrad Quinn

CDC Reference Number: I-027-02/0

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