Pyrogens staphylococcal enterotoxin

Hartwig U, Gerlach D, Fleischer B Major histocompatibility complex class II binding site for streptococcal pyrogenic (erythrogenic) toxin A. Med Microbiol Immunol 1994 183 257-264. Hudson KR, Tiedemann RE, Urban RG, Lowe SC, Strominger JL, Fraser JD Staphylococcal enterotoxin A has two cooperative binding sites on major histocompatibility complex class II. J Exp Med 1995 182 711-720. 

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. 

Clark WG, Borison HL Pyrogenic effect of purified staphylococcal enterotoxin. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 1963 142 237-241. 

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. 

Streptococcus pyogenes and Staphyiococcus aureus secrete a number of enterotoxins and pyrogenic exotoxins, respectively. These toxins are known as superantigens, since they simultaneously form complexes with the major histocompatibility class II (MHC-II) molecules and T-cell receptors (TCRs) enabling them to activate a number of T-cell lymphocytes.Thus, superantigens stimulate up to 20% of the T cells while only 0.0001% to 0.001% T cells are stimulated upon normal antigen presentation. The massive T-cell activation leads to cytokine release and systemic shock. The staphylococcal enterotoxins (SE) A, B, C1-C3, D and... 

Staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) is one of seven enterotoxins produced by strains of Staphylococcus aureus. SEB, the best understood of the staphylococcal enterotoxins, can be regarded as the type enterotoxin. Staphylococcal enterotoxins, toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 (TSST-1), and certain other bacterial products (such as streptococcal pyrogenic exotoxins [SPE]) and viral products (which are not discussed in this chapter) are commonly referred to as superantigens because of their profound effects on the immune system. Minute concentrations of superantigens can activate the immune system receptors because they bind with strong avidity to T-cell antigen receptors and class II molecules of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). 

Staphylococcal enterotoxin serotypes SEB, SEC1, SEC2, SEC3, and the streptococcal pyrogenic exotoxins A and C (SPE-A and SPE-C) form the second homology group. 

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... 

Betley MJ, Borst DW, Regassa LB. Staphylococcal enterotoxins, toxic shock syndrome toxin and streptococcal pyrogenic exotoxins A comparative study of their molecular biology. Chem Immunol. 1992 55 1-35. 

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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