Overview

• A novel treatment using a cocktail of three growth factors has been shown to reverse lethal cell damage caused by anthrax toxins in mice, potentially addressing advanced-stage cases.
• The treatment reactivates the ERK pathway, which is inactivated by anthrax toxins, rescuing cells previously thought to be beyond repair.
• Researchers achieved survival rates of up to 70% in anthrax-infected mice treated with the growth factor cocktail, compared to only 10% survival in untreated mice.
• The growth factors—epidermal growth factor (EGF), granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), and basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF2)—are already approved for other medical uses, potentially expediting clinical adaptation.
• Efforts are now underway to optimize the treatment for human use, addressing variability in how different cell types respond to growth factors.