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. 2017 Jun 26;8:687. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2017.00687

Figure 1.

Figure 1

Schematic of anthrax toxin pathway and Yersinia pestis surface components targeted for vaccine design. (A) Schematic of anthrax toxin pathway. The protective antigen (PA), a key component of the lethal toxin (LeTx) of Bacillus anthracis, has been the principal target for the anthrax vaccines. Once bound to the host receptors CMG2 and TEM8, PA is cleaved by furin to generate PA20 (20 kDa) and PA63 (63 kDa). PA63 then oligomerizes to produce a heptamer or octamer that then interacts with lethal factor (LF) and edema factor (EF) to form the LeTx or edema toxin (EdTx), respectively. Translocation of LF and EF through the PA heptamer/octamer channel into the host cell cytosol results in toxic effects. (B) Y. pestis surface components targeted for vaccine design. F1 is the structural unit of the capsular layer. V forms a pore at the tip of the injectisome needle and facilitates translocation of Yersinia outer proteins (Yops) into the host cell. F1 and V are two principal targets for the plague subunit vaccines.