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High-affinity binding of staphylococcal enterotoxins A and B to HLA-DR

Abstract

STAPHYLOCOCCAL enterotoxins A–E (refs 1–3), toxic shock toxin (TST-1) (ref. 1), a product of Mycoplasma arthritidis4 and the Mis antigens5–7 provoke dramatic T-cell responses. AH are extremely potent polyclonal mitogens stimulating a large proportion of both murine and human CD4+ and CD8+T cells although activity is tightly restricted by major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II antigens1,2. The murine T-cell response to staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) has recently been shown to involve only those T cells expressing T-cell receptor Vβ3, 8.1, 8.2 and 8.3 domains7, a situation which closely mimics the response to Mis antigens5,6,8. This paper examines the initial events in SEA and SEB T-cell activation and shows that MHC restriction results from a direct high affinity binding by intact SEA and SEB to the same site on MHC class II HLA-DR antigens.

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Fraser, J. High-affinity binding of staphylococcal enterotoxins A and B to HLA-DR. Nature 339, 221–223 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1038/339221a0

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