Transcription profiling of mouse bone marrow derived macrophages (BMDM) treated with anthrax edema toxin (ET)

Bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax, secretes three toxin proteins: protective antigen (PA), lethal factor (LF), and edema factor (EF). PA is a transporter of LF and EF into host cells by receptor-mediated endocytosis. LF is a metalloprotease that cleaves mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) kinases (MKK), while EF is an adenylate cyclase, which converts ATP to cAMP. We used microarrays to decipher the specific gene regulation in edema toxin (ET), the complex of EF and PA, treated mouse bone marrow derived macrophages. Experiment Overall Design: BMDM were treated with 1 mg/ml of ET and the RNAs were purified at 0, 2, and 4h after toxin treatment.