Identification of the bacterial protein FtsX as a unique target of chemokine-mediated antimicrobial activity against Bacillus anthracis.

ABSTRACT: Chemokines are a family of chemotactic cytokines that function in host defense by orchestrating cellular movement during infection. In addition to this function, many chemokines have also been found to mediate the direct killing of a range of pathogenic microorganisms through an as-yet-undefined mechanism. As an understanding of the molecular mechanism and microbial targets of chemokine-mediated antimicrobial activity is likely to lead to the identification of unique, broad-spectrum therapeutic targets for effectively treating infection, we sought to investigate the mechanism by which the chemokine CXCL10 mediates bactericidal activity against the Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax. Here, we report that disruption of the gene ftsX, which encodes the

SUBMITTER: Crawford MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3193227 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature