INTERACTIONS BETWEEN STAPHYLOCOCCAL SUPERANTIGENS AND HUMAN T-CELL CLONES ARE PREDOMINANTLY BUT NOT EXCLUSIVELY GOVERNED BY THEIR T-CELL RECEPTOR V-BETA USAGE
Kea. Lundin et al., INTERACTIONS BETWEEN STAPHYLOCOCCAL SUPERANTIGENS AND HUMAN T-CELL CLONES ARE PREDOMINANTLY BUT NOT EXCLUSIVELY GOVERNED BY THEIR T-CELL RECEPTOR V-BETA USAGE, Scandinavian journal of immunology, 39(4), 1994, pp. 387-394
Staphylococcal exotoxins (SE) are potent mitogens for human and murine
T cells. Extensive studies in mice have demonstrated strict correlati
ons between T-cell responses to individual SE and TCR V beta expressio
n. Studies examining the TCR V beta expression of SE-activated human p
eripheral blood T cells also suggest close correlations, whereas the d
ata reported using human T-cell clones (TCC) are conflicting. We have
determined the cDNA TCRB sequences of 52 different human TCC, expressi
ng 35 different T-cell receptor V beta (TCRBV)-encoded sequences. The
TCC were tested in proliferative assays using nine different SE. Most
of these TCC express V beta s which have not been tested previously in
studies examining interaction between TCC and SE. The SE stimulated a
variable fraction (1/48-31/52) of the TCC. The ability of a given SE
to stimulate TCC in many cases correlated with V beta expression, but
several exceptions were found. With one possible exception, comparison
s between deduced amino-acid sequences within the 'fourth hypervariabl
e region' of the TCR beta chain and SE responsiveness did not reveal p
otential SE binding motifs. We conclude that the reactivity of T cells
towards SE is governed mainly by their TCR V beta expression. However
, the authors' results also suggest that the interaction between SE an
d human T cells may involve elements unidentified as yet which are in
addition to the beta chain of the TCR.