Molecule Group Blocks Deadly Anthrax Toxin
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
A small group of molecules has been shown to inhibit a deadly toxin associated with inhalational anthrax, a discovery that could lead to new ways of treating the disease, researchers said Monday.
Anthrax produces large amounts of a toxin that can kill a person even after antibiotics have destroyed the bacteria, Dr. Lewis Cantley of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and his colleagues reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
A drug that blocks the effects of the toxin would work with antibiotics, boosting survival.
