Sublethal Doses of Anthrax Lethal Toxin on the Suppression of Macrophage Phagocytosis
Figure 6
In the early infectious stage of B. anthracis (A), LT likely suppresses phagocytosis at a low level resulting in an increase in bacterial survival and decrease in host clearance without influencing the MEK/MAPK pathways (B–C). As the surviving bacteria accumulated to a high level (D), the LT level may gradually reach to a MAPK inhibitory dose (E) leading to further disruption of host homeostasis and immune responses (F). ↓ Activation processes. ⊥ Inhibition processes.