The Journal of Experimental Medicine
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© The Rockefeller University Press, 0022-1007/1997/4/1447/ $5.00
The Journal of Experimental Medicine, Volume 185, Number 8, April 21, 1997 1447-1454

Article

Transcytosis of Staphylococcal Superantigen Toxins

Abdel Rahim A. Hamad*, Philippa Marrack*,{ddagger},§,||, and John W. Kappler*,{ddagger},§

From the * Division of Basic Immunology, Department of Medicine, National Jewish Medical and Research Center, Denver, Colorado 80206; and the {ddagger} Howard Hughes Medical Institute, § Departments of Immunology and Medicine, and || Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Genetics, University of Colorado Health Science Center, Denver, Colorado 80262

Staphylococcus aureus produces a set of proteins (e.g., staphylococcal enterotoxin A [SEA], SEB, toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 [TSST-1]) which act both as superantigens (SAgs) and toxins. Although their mode of action as SAgs is well understood, little is known about how they enter the body via the intestine and cause food poisoning. To examine this problem we used an in vitro culture system to study the capacity of class II MHC-negative human intestinal epithelial cells (Caco-2) to transcytose several staphylococcal toxins. We found that Caco-2 cells are capable of dosedependent, facilitated transcytosis of SEB and TSST-1, but not SEA. We extended these studies in vivo in mice by showing that ingested SEB appears in the blood more efficiently than SEA. Our data suggest that these toxins can cross the epithelium in an immunologically intact form. These results may have important implications for the pathogenesis of food poisoning.

Address correspondence to Dr. John Kappler, National Jewish Center for Immunology and Respiratory Medicine, 1400 Jackson St., Denver, CO 80206.

1Abbreviations used in this paper: HRP, horseradish peroxidase; SAg, superantigen; SE, staphylococcal enterotoxins; TEER, transepithelial electrical resistance; TSST-1, toxic shock syndrome 1.


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