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Comments on the influence of capsule would be helpful

Posted by iglomski on 19 Aug 2008 at 22:51 GMT

This study describes how Bacillus anthracis Sterne may cause infections of the central nervous system, but the reality is that Sterne generally does not cause lethal infections of the CNS. Fully virulent B. anthracis are encapsulated, which will drastically alter the surface of the vegetative bacterium and will very likely alter its interactions with endothelial cells. Many other studies have shown that capsulation prevents interactions with cells. It would be helpful if the authors showed data on the interaction of capsulated bacteria with the hBMEC, especially if they wish to imply that the Sterne infection data reflects what is occurring in wild-type anthrax.