Bacterial Superantigens Expand and Activate, Rather than Delete or Incapacitate, Preexisting Antigen-Specific Memory CD8+ T Cells.

ABSTRACT: Superantigens (SAgs) released by common Gram-positive bacterial pathogens have been reported to delete, anergize, or activate mouse T cells. However, little is known about their effects on preexisting memory CD8+ T cell (TCD8) pools. Furthermore, whether SAgs manipulate human memory TCD8 responses to cognate antigens is unknown. We used a human peripheral blood mononuclear cell culture system and a nontransgenic mouse model in which the impact of stimulation by two fundamentally distinct SAgs, staphylococcal enterotoxin B and Mycoplasma arthritidis mitogen, on influenza virus- and/or cytomegalovirus-specific memory TCD8 could be monitored. Bacterial SAgs surprisingly expanded antiviral memory TCD8 generated naturally through infection or artificially through vaccination. Mechanistically, t

SUBMITTER: Meilleur CE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6452305 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature