Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Hosting for the cruel and the inconsequential

Responses to group A streptococcal infection vary from slight discomfort to death. Now it seems that human susceptibility can depend on polymorphisms in genes encoding human leukocyte antigen class II (pages 1398–1404).

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Group A streptococci secrete a number of exotoxins acting as superantigens.

Kimberly Homer

References

  1. Bochicchio, G.V., Joshi, M., Joshi, M., Henry, S. & Scalea, T. Group A Streptococcus (GAS) soft-tissue infections: A lethal organism on the rise. Am. Surg. 67, 1089–1092 (2001).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Kotb, M. et al. An immunogenetic and molecular basis for differences in outcomes of invasive group A streptococcal infections. Nature Med. 8, 1398–1404 (2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Norrby-Teglund, A. et al. Host variation in cytokine responses to superantigens determine the severity of invasive group A streptococcal infection. Eur. J. Immunol. 30, 3247–3255 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Hidalgo-Grass, C. et al. A locus of group A streptococcus involved in invasive disease and DNA transfer. Mol. Microbiol. 46, 87–99 (2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Proft, T. et al. The streptococcal superantigen SMEZ exhibits wide allelic variation, mosaic structure, and significant antigenic variation. J. Exp. Med. 191, 1765–1776 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Nizet, V. et al. Innate antimicrobial peptide protects the skin from invasive bacterial infection. Nature. 414, 454–457 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Pütsep, K., Carlsson, G., Boman, H.G. & Andersson, M. Deficiency of antibacterial peptides in patients with morbus Kostmann: An observation study. Lancet 360, 1144–1149 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Baker, M., Gutman, D.M., Papageorgiou, A.C., Collins, C.M. & Acharya, K.R. Structural features of a zinc binding site in the superantigen strepococcal pyrogenic exotoxin A (SpeA1): implications for MHC class II recognition. Protein Sci. 10, 1268–1273 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Papageorgiou, A.C. et al. Structural basis for the recognition of superantigen streptococcal pyrogenic exotoxin A (SpeA1) by MHC class II molecules and T-cell receptors. EMBO J. 18, 9–21 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Sundberg, E.J. et al. Structures of two streptococcal superantigens bound to TCR β chains reveal diversity in the architecture of T cell signaling complexes. Structure (Camb). 10, 687–699 (2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Welcher, B.C. et al. Lethal shock induced by streptococcal pyrogenic exotoxin A in mice transgenic for human leukocyte antigen-DQ8 and human CD4 receptors: implications for development of vaccines and therapeutics. J. Infect. Dis. 186, 501–510 (2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Staffan Normark.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Henriques Normark, B., Normark, S. Hosting for the cruel and the inconsequential. Nat Med 8, 1349–1350 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm1202-1349

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nm1202-1349

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing