... that block intracellular signalling pathways essential for host defence. Some of these proteins also act as toxins, directly causing pathology associated with disease. Bacillus anthracis , the bacterium that causes anthrax, secretes two plasmid-encoded enzymes, LF (lethal factor) and EF (oedema factor...

...Aimee M. deCathelineau; Gary M. Bokoch The pathogenesis of anthrax is such that unless antibiotic treatment is initiated at an early stage in the disease, it is ineffective against the bacteria-induced toxaemia that subverts the immune response, inflicts massive tissue damage and is ultimately...