Analysis of the interaction between the bacterial superantigen streptococcal pyrogenic exotoxin A (SpeA) and the human T-cell receptor.

Streptococcus pyogenes that produces the bacterial superantigen streptococcal pyrogenic exotoxin A (SpeA) is associated with outbreaks of streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS) in the United States and Europe. SpeA stimulates V beta 2.1, 12.2, 14.1, and 15.1-positive T cells, and the lymphokine production from the activated T cells is believed to result in the symptoms associated with STSS. The T-cell receptor (TCR)-SpeA interaction is crucial for superantigenic activity, and studies were undertaken to determine regions of both SpeA and the TCR involved in the formation of MHC/SpeA/TCR complexes. Previously, recombinant toxins encoded by speA alleles 1, 2, and 3 as well as toxins resulting from 19 distinct point mutations in speA1 were generated. Here, these 22 toxin forms were incubated with human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), and the percentages of T-cell blasts bearing V beta chains 2.1, 12.2, and 14.1 were quantified by flow cytometry. The analysis indicates that the residues of SpeA needed for a productive TCR interaction differ for each V beta chain examined. An amino acid substitution at only one site significantly affected the toxin's ability to stimulate V beta 2.1-expressing T cells, three individual amino acid substitutions resulted in significant loss of ability to stimulate V beta 12.2-expressing T cells, and substitution at 13 individual sites significantly affected the ability to stimulate V beta 14.1-expressing T cells. To elucidate the regions of the V beta chains that interacted with SpeA, synthetic peptides representative of the human V beta 12.2 complementary-determining regions (CDRs) 1, 2, and 4 were used to block the SpeA-mediated proliferation of human PBMCs. The CDR1, CDR2 and CDR4 peptides were each able to block proliferation, with the activity of CDR1 > CDR2 > CDR4. Combinations of CDR1 peptide with CDR2 or CDR4 peptides allosterically enhanced the ability of each to block proliferation, suggesting SpeA has distinct binding sites for the CDR loops.