Mechanism/inibition of anthrax lethal factor and development of optical anion chemosensors

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Zinc is an essential element, and an indispensable constituent of more than 300 enzymes involved in many critical biological processes. My research program seeks to understand how these enzymes work on the molecular level. Our primary focus of study is the anthrax lethal factor (LF), a zinc-dependent metalloenzyme, which constitutes one of the three components of the anthrax toxin. One of the other components of this toxin is termed protective antigen (PA). PA forms a pore in the membranes of host cells, thus allowing LF to enter the host cell, where it exerts its deleterious action.