Cutting edge: Evidence of direct TCR alpha-chain interaction with superantigen.

Nick Pumphrey, Annelise Vuidepot, Bent Jakobsen, Göran Forsberg, Björn Walse, Karin Lindkvist-Petersson

Avidex Limited, Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom.

Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950) 2007 Sep 1

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Superantigens are known to activate a large number of T cells. The SAg is presented by MHC class II on the APC and its classical feature is that it recognizes the variable region of the beta-chain of the TCR. In this article, we report, by direct binding studies, that staphylococcal enterotoxin (SE) H (SEH), a bacterial SAg secreted by Staphylococcus aureus, instead recognizes the variable alpha-chain (TRAV27) of TCR. Furthermore, we show that different SAgs (e.g., SEH and SEA) can simultaneously bind to one TCR by binding the alpha-chain and the beta-chain, respectively. Theoretical three-dimensional models of the penta complexes are presented. Hence, these findings open up a new dimension of the biology of the staphylococcal enterotoxins.

Citation

Nick Pumphrey, Annelise Vuidepot, Bent Jakobsen, Göran Forsberg, Björn Walse, Karin Lindkvist-Petersson. Cutting edge: Evidence of direct TCR alpha-chain interaction with superantigen. Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950). 2007 Sep 1;179(5):2700-4