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Human Neutrophils Kill Bacillus anthracis

MPS-Authors
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Mayer-Scholl,  Anne
Department of Cellular Microbiology, Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Max Planck Society;

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Hurwitz,  Robert
Core Facilities / Proteinpurification, Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Max Planck Society;

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Brinkmann,  Volker
Core Facilities / Microscopy, Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Max Planck Society;

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Schmid,  Monika
Core Facilities / Proteinanalysis, Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Max Planck Society;

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Jungblut,  Peter R.
Core Facilities / Proteinanalysis, Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Max Planck Society;

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Zychlinsky,  Arturo
Department of Cellular Microbiology, Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Max Planck Society;

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PLoS_Pathog_2005_1_e23.pdf
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Citation

Mayer-Scholl, A., Hurwitz, R., Brinkmann, V., Schmid, M., Jungblut, P. R., Weinrauch, Y., et al. (2005). Human Neutrophils Kill Bacillus anthracis. PLoS Pathogens, 1(3), e23-e23. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.0010023.


Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-001M-0000-000E-C411-D
Abstract
Bacillus anthracis spores cause natural infections and are used as biological weapons. Inhalation infection with B. anthracis, the etiological agent of anthrax, is almost always lethal, yet cutaneous infections usually remain localized and resolve spontaneously. Neutrophils are typically recruited to cutaneous but seldom to other forms of anthrax infections, raising the possibility that neutrophils kill B. anthracis. In this study we infected human neutrophils with either spores or vegetative bacteria of a wild-type strain, or strains, expressing only one of the two major virulence factors. The human neutrophils engulfed B. anthracis spores, which germinated intracellularly and were then efficiently killed. Interestingly, neutrophil killing was independent of reactive oxygen species production. We fractionated a human neutrophil granule extract by high-performance liquid chromatography and identified α-defensins as the component responsible for B. anthracis killing. These data suggest that the timely recruitment of neutrophils can control cutaneous infections and possibly other forms of B. anthracis infections, and that α-defensins play an important role in the potent anti-B. anthracis activity of neutrophils.