title: Functional inactivation of Dermatophagoides spp. (house dust mite) reactive human T-cell clones.
abstract: Staphylococcal enterotoxins are able both to stimulate powerful polyclonal proliferative responses and to induce non-responsiveness of T lymphocytes expressing the appropriate T-cell antigen receptor V beta gene products. T-cell clones representative of the human response to house dust mite were identified that express either V beta 3 or V beta 6 gene products. The specificity of the latter was confirmed by serology. Pre-treatment of cloned V beta 3+ T cells with the Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxins B or C1 rendered them non-responsive to immunogenic challenge with their natural ligand, while retaining responsiveness to exogenous IL-2. Similarly, exposure of the V beta 6+ dust mite reactive T cells to the staphylococcal enterotoxin of the appropriate specificity, SEE, induced specific anergy. The development of non-responsiveness was associated with changes in the T-cell phenotypes. Downregulation of the T-cell receptor, Ti-CD3, was paralleled by enhanced expression of both CD2 and the IL-2 receptor, CD25. Differential co-modulation of CD4 and Ti-CD3 suggested that for some T cells CD4 may form part of the specific antigen recognition structure. Toxicity of the staphylococcal enterotoxins may be removed by chemical modification, thus their ability functionally to inactivate subpopulations of T cells expressing antigen-specific receptors with shared characteristics may be of potential value in the regulation of allergic diseases if the diversity of the T-cell repertoire proves to be limited.
authors.affiliation: ImmuLogic Pharmaceutical Corporation, Palo Alto, California.
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: O'Hehir
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Aguilar
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: S O
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Gollnick
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Lamb
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002999:Clone Cells / Q000276:immunology; D004768:Enterotoxins / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008925:Mites / Q000276:immunology*; D010641:Phenotype; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000235:genetics; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D004768:Enterotoxins; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta