Scientists raise hopes of cure for anthrax

War on terrorism: Treatment

Scientists have made two breakthroughs in anthrax research that could lead to a cure for the disease.

Scientists have made two breakthroughs in anthrax research that could lead to a cure for the disease.

Anthrax can be easily treated with antibiotics if it is caught early enough, but often it is not. The most deadly form is caused by victims inhaling the bacterial spores.

A team of researchers has identified the critical molecule on human cells that allows the anthrax toxin to lock on to and destroy the body's vital tissues. A second team of scientists has revealed the three-dimensional structure of the anthrax toxin. The finds open the way to designing new drugs that can block the poison before it has a chance to kill.

Both studies, which were to appear in the scientific journal Nature next month, have been published early on the internet because of the importance that the work will have in developing effective countermeasures against anthrax attacks.

A spokesman for Nature said a deeper understanding of the anthrax toxin would point the way to better treatments and vaccines.

"Since this topic is obviously of great public interest at the moment, we feel it is in everyone's best interests for this research to be discussed as soon as possible," he said.

Anthrax kills by releasing a potent toxin consisting of three components. Two of them, the edema factor and lethal factor, wreak havoc inside cells, which they are able to enter with the help of the toxin's third component, called the protective antigen.

A study by Professor John Young of the University of Wisconsin in the United States has discovered the molecular "gateway" of the cell that allows the toxin to enter.

The scientists believe they may be able to design a way of blocking this gateway to prevent the toxin from gaining entry to the cells.

"A more long-term application would be for pharmaceutical companies to use the receptor along with anthrax toxin to screen the millions of compounds they've already synthesised and be able to identify toxin inhibitors," Professor Young said.

This could lead to new drugs that could neutralise any toxin remaining in the body after the bacteria themselves had been destroyed by antibiotics, he said.

A second study, led by Robert Liddington of the Burnham Institute in La Jolla, California, has identified the three-dimensional structure of the lethal factor. That could also prove critical in the design of new drugs that could combat the toxin's lethal effects.

The new information on the structure of the lethal factor "can be used in the design of therapeutic agents that would block the activity of the lethal factor," the scientists said.