CHARACTERIZATION OF HUMAN T-CELL RESPONSES TO YERSINIA-ENTEROCOLITICASUPERANTIGEN

We reported that antigenic preparations from Yersinia enterocolitica s timulate murine T cells in a manner consistent with that of superantig ens. As a consequence we examined whether Y. enterocolitica antigenic preparations stimulate human T-cell cultures. Human T cells, enriched from peripheral blood lymphocytes, were stimulated to proliferate in t he presence of Y. enterocolitica cytoplasmic and membrane preparations . This activity has also been shown to be sensitive to protease treatm ent, indicating the presence of a protein, and when separated by ion-e xchange chromatography a single peak of activity is resolved. Furtherm ore, this proliferation was inhibited, in a dose-dependent manner, by the presence of antibodies directed against MHC class II antigens, ind icating a requirement for these molecules. When these cells were stain ed with a panel of V beta-specific antibodies to determine if there wa s an enrichment of a particular V beta-bearing T-cell subset after sti mulation, results indicate a significant enrichment of T cells bearing V beta 3, V beta 12, V beta 14, and V beta 17 over controls. Taken to gether, these data are consistent with a Y. enterocolitica product act ing as a superantigen for human T cells.