1932

Abstract

Toxic shock syndrome (TSS) is an acute onset illness characterized by fever, rash formation, and hypotension that can lead to multiple organ failure and lethal shock, as well as desquamation in patients that recover. The disease is caused by bacterial superantigens (SAGs) secreted from and group A streptococci. SAGs bypass normal antigen presentation by binding to class II major histocompatibility complex molecules on antigen-presenting cells and to specific variable regions on the β-chain of the T-cell antigen receptor. Through this interaction, SAGs activate T cells at orders of magnitude above antigen-specific activation, resulting in massive cytokine release that is believed to be responsible for the most severe features of TSS. This review focuses on clinical and epidemiological aspects of TSS, as well as important developments in the genetics, biochemistry, immunology, and structural biology of SAGs. From the evolutionary relationships between these important toxins, we propose that there are five distinct groups of SAGs.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1146/annurev.micro.55.1.77
2001-10-01
2024-10-04
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/content/journals/10.1146/annurev.micro.55.1.77
Loading
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev.micro.55.1.77
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Review Article
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error