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
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$209.00 per year
only $17.42 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
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).
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).
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).
Hidalgo-Grass, C. et al. A locus of group A streptococcus involved in invasive disease and DNA transfer. Mol. Microbiol. 46, 87–99 (2002).
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).
Nizet, V. et al. Innate antimicrobial peptide protects the skin from invasive bacterial infection. Nature. 414, 454–457 (2001).
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).
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).
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).
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).
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).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights 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
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nm1202-1349
This article is cited by
-
Interactions with fibronectin attenuate the virulence of Streptococcus pyogenes
The EMBO Journal (2004)