| First Author | Chau TA | Year | 2009 |
| Journal | Nat Med | Volume | 15 |
| Issue | 6 | Pages | 641-8 |
| PubMed ID | 19465927 | Mgi Jnum | J:151237 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:4353446 | Doi | 10.1038/nm.1965 |
| Citation | Chau TA, et al. (2009) Toll-like receptor 2 ligands on the staphylococcal cell wall downregulate superantigen-induced T cell activation and prevent toxic shock syndrome. Nat Med 15(6):641-8 |
| abstractText | Staphylococcal superantigens are pyrogenic exotoxins that cause massive T cell activation leading to toxic shock syndrome and death. Despite the strong adaptive immune response induced by these toxins, infections by superantigen-producing staphylococci are very common clinical events. We hypothesized that this may be partly a result of staphylococcal strains having developed strategies that downregulate the T cell response to these toxins. Here we show that the human interleukin-2 response to staphylococcal superantigens is inhibited by the simultaneous presence of bacteria. Such a downregulatory effect is the result of peptidoglycan-embedded molecules binding to Toll-like receptor 2 and inducing interleukin-10 production and apoptosis of antigen-presenting cells. We corroborated these findings in vivo by showing substantial prevention of mortality after simultaneous administration of staphylococcal enterotoxin B with either heat-killed staphylococci or Staphylococcus aureus peptidoglycan in mouse models of superantigen-induced toxic shock syndrome. |
