title: Assessment of the functional regions of the superantigen staphylococcal enterotoxin B.
abstract: The functional activity of superantigens is based on capacity of these microbial proteins to bind to both the β-chain of the T cell receptor (TcR) and the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II dimer. We have previously shown that a subset of the bacterial superantigens also binds to a membrane protein, designated p85, which is expressed by renal epithelial cells. This binding activity is a property of SEB, SEC1, 2 and 3, but not SEA, SED, SEE or TSST. The crystal structure of the tri-molecular complex of the superantigen staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) with both the TcR and class II has previously been reported. However, the relative contributions of regions of the superantigen to the overall functional activity of this superantigen remain undefined. In an effort to better define the molecular basis for the interaction of SEB with the TcR β-chain, we report studies here which show the comparative contributions of amino- and carboxy-terminal regions in the superantigen activity of SEB. Recombinant fusion proteins composed of bacterial maltose-binding protein linked to either full-length or truncated toxins in which the 81 N-terminal, or 19 or 34 C-terminal amino acids were deleted, were generated for these studies. This approach provides a determination of the relative strength of the functional activity of the various regions of the superantigen protein.
authors.affiliation: Center for Inflammation, Translational and Clinical Lung Research, Temple University School of Medicine, 3500 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19140, USA. rogerst@temple.edu.
authors.forename: Lily
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Thomas J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Rogers
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D004768:Enterotoxins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H; D033902:Periplasmic Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D011485:Protein Binding; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D018089:Superantigens / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D004768:Enterotoxins; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II; C461619:MalE protein, E coli; D033902:Periplasmic Binding Proteins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D018089:Superantigens; C031818:enterotoxin B, staphylococcal