In Vivo Comparison of Branched vs Linear Pegylation of a Capsule-Degrading Enzyme for Treatment of Anthrax.

ABSTRACT: Polymers of d-glutamic acid (PDGA) form capsules of virulent strains of Bacillus anthracis. PDGA is antiphagocytic and weakly immunogenic; it enables the bacteria to evade innate immune responses. Capsule depolymerase (CapD) catalyzes the covalent anchoring of PDGA to the cell wall. There has been interest in developing CapD as a therapeutic to treat antibiotic-resistant anthrax infections. We previously showed that a His-tagged and circularly permuted (CP) CapD modified with a branched 3-prong polyethylene glycol (PEG) molecule termed PEG-CapD^S334C-CP could protect mice with 80% survival against a 5 LD₅₀ challenge with virulent B. anthracis. In the current study, we compare the efficacy of tag-free CapD^S334C-CP modified by either the branched 3-prong or a

SUBMITTER: Chua J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12191348 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature