Pyrogenic toxins

Monday SR, Bohach GA (1999) Use of multiplex PCR to detect classical and newly described pyrogenic toxin genes in staphylococcal isolates. 1 Qin Microbiol 37 3411-3414 Monecke S, Slickers P, Ehricht R (2008) Assignment of Staphylococcus aureus isolates to clonal complexes based on microarray analysis and pattern recognition. FEMS Immunol Med Microbiol 53 237-251... 

Fast DJ, Schlievert PM, Nelson RD Toxic shock syndrome-associated staphylococcal and streptococcal pyrogenic toxins are potent inducers of tumor necrosis factor production. Infect Immun 1989 57 291-294. 

Smoot LM, McCormick JK, Smoot JC, Hoe NP, Strickland I, Cole RL, Barbian KD, Earhart CA, Ohlendorf DH, Veasy LG, Hill HR, Leung DYM, Schlievert PM, Musser JM Characterization of two novel pyrogenic toxin superantigens made by an acute rheumatic fever clone of Streptococcus pyogenes associated with multiple disease outbreaks. Infect Immun 2002 70 7095-7104. 

Orwin PM, Leung DY, Tripp TJ, Bohach GA, Earhart CA, Ohlendorf DH, Schlievert PM Characterization of a novel staphylococcal enterotoxin-like superantigen, a member of the group V subfamily of pyrogenic toxins. Biochemistry 2002 41 14033-14040. 

Mitchell DT, Levitt DG, Schlievert PM, Ohlendorf DH Structural evidence for the evolution of pyrogenic toxin superantigens. J Mol Evol 2000 51 520-531. 

Schlievert PM, Jablonski LM, Roggiani M, Sadler I, Callantine S, Mitchell DT, Ohlendorf DH, Bohach GA Pyrogenic toxin superantigen site specificity in toxic shock syndrome and food poisoning in animals. Infect Immun 2000 68 3630-3634. 

R. G. Ulrich et al., Staphylococcal enterotoxin B and related pyrogenic toxins, in E R. Sidell et al. (eds), Medical Aspects of Chemical and Biological Warfare (Washington, DC Office of the Surgeon General, US Army, 1997), pp.621-30. 

The staphylococcal and streptococcal toxins with superantigen-like properties are 23- to 29-kilodalton (kd) proteins (referred to here as pyrogenic toxins) that can be categorized into three distinct amino acid-sequence homology groups2 ... 

The pyrogenic toxins bind to MHC class II molecules and this complex, in turn, stimulates T cells.58 In contrast, MHC-independent binding induces T-cell anergy. It is likely that all pyrogenic toxins share a common mode for binding MHC class II mol-... 

Superantigen (Pyrogenic Toxin) T-Cell Receptor Vp Used by Responding Lymphocytes... 

Primates, including humans, are most sensitive to pyrogenic toxins because the binding affinity of their MHC class II molecules is greater. Lymphocyte responses of chimpanzees and humans are very similar, while rhesus monkeys are more sensitive to toxin stimulation. These differences in primate lymphocyte responses appear to be more dependent on the T cell than the cells presenting the MHC class II receptor.13 However, pyrogenic toxins do vary in their affinity toward different MHC class II isotypes and alleles. Therefore, it is possible that MHC polymorphisms within the human population may also contribute to individual differences in susceptibility to the toxic effects of the pyrogenic toxins. In-... 

The staphylococcal enterotoxins are moderately stable proteins therefore, immunological evaluation should be possible on samples collected in either deployed or fixed medical treatment facilities. Immunoassays can detect picogram quantities of toxins in environmental samples. For comparison, 440 pg/mL was reported as the mean concentration of TSST-1 in human sera from patients with toxic shock syndrome.25 Anti-TSST-1 antibody titers are either suppressed or depleted in patients with toxic shock syndrome26,27 and the levels only recover during convalescence. In addition, most normal human serum samples contain detectable levels of antibody reacting with several different bacterial pyrogenic toxins, including... 

OVERVIEW OF CLASSIFICATION CRITERIA AND RELATEDNESS OF THE PYROGENIC TOXINS... 

Bohach, G.A., Fast, D.J., Nelson, R.D., and Schlievert, P.M. 1990. Staphylococcal and streptococcal pyrogenic toxins involved in toxic shock syndrome and related illnesses. Crit. Rev. Microbiol. 17 251-272. 

Bohach, G.A., Hovde, C.J., Handley, J.P., and Schlievert, P.M. 1988. Cross-neutralization of staphylococcal and streptococcal pyrogenic toxins by monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies. Infect. Immun. 56 400-404. 

Bohach, G.A. and Schlievert, P.M. 1987. Nucleotide sequence of the staphylococcal enterotoxin C gene and relatedness to other pyrogenic toxins. Mol. Gen. Genet. 209 15-20. 

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