INTRODUCTION Direct detection of microbial super antigens in synovial fluid of patients with rheumatoid arthritis may be able to guide to the design of cost-effective therapies. The purpose of this study was to assess the existence of Staphylococcal enterotoxin A (superantigen A) in the synovial fluid of patients with RA by the PCR and ELISA methods. METHODS This experimental study was conduc...

A bispecific Ab (BsAb) that binds the TCR on T cells and the G protein of the vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) can redirect staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB)-activated T cells to kill VSV-infected cells and to inhibit VSV replication in vitro. Inhibition of virus replication in our system is dependent upon the specificity of the Ab for the viral protein. IFN-gamma does not play a very importan...

The Rockefeller University Press $30.00 J. Cell Biol. Vol. 209 No. 1 143–162 www.jcb.org/cgi/doi/10.1083/jcb.201407130 JCB 143 Correspondence to Chang-Duk Jun: [email protected] Abbreviations used in this paper: ABM, actin-binding motif; APB, actin polymerization buffer; APC, antigen-presenting cell; Arp2/3, Actin-related protein 2/3; CFSE, carboxyfluorescein succinimidyl ester; CH, calponin hom...

Staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA) is the most commonly recovered staphylococcal enterotoxin in food poisoning outbreaks. Our research objective was to develop a competitive immunoassay using a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor for the detection of SEA in raw eggs. Homogenized raw eggs were spiked with SEA and clarified by centrifugation at 14,989 ¥ g. Anti-SEA was added to aliquots of ...

Community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) has rarely been reported in the hospital setting. We report an outbreak of 7 cases of skin and soft tissue infections due to a strain of CA-MRSA. All patients were admitted to the labor and delivery, nursery, or maternity units during a 3-week period. Genetic fingerprinting showed that the outbreak strain was closely rel...

Interactions of LIGHT and its receptors, herpesvirus entry mediator on T cells and lymphotoxin beta receptor on stromal cells, are implicated in the regulation of lymphoid organogenesis, costimulation of T cells, and activation of dendritic cells. In this work we report that LIGHT-deficient mice had normal lymphoid organs with T cells and APCs that normally responded to Ag stimulation and norma...

Objectives: Staphylococcus aureus is an important pathogen associated with diseases in a variety of hosts including humans. It produces several toxins and virulence factors that contribute to its pathogenic potential such as staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs). This study was conducted to determine enterotoxigenicity of S. aureus associated with chronic urogenital tract infection by detecting ent...

Exposure to bacterial superantigens, such as staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB), can lead to the induction of acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ALI/ARDS). To date, there are no known effective treatments for SEB-induced inflammation. In the current study we investigated the potential use of the hyaluronic acid synthase inhibitor 4-methylumbelliferone (4-MU) on staphylococca...

BACKGROUND Despite advances in medical practices, in recent decades permanent reductions in joint function have not been achieved, and the high mortality rate of patients with staphylococcal septic arthritis has not substantially improved. METHODS We evaluated the effects of a combined tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor and antibiotic therapy on the course of Staphylococcus aureus arthriti...

Superantigens (SAgs) are potent microbial toxins that function to activate large numbers of T cells in a T cell receptor (TCR) Vβ-specific manner, resulting in excessive immune system activation. Staphylococcus aureus possesses a large repertoire of distinct SAgs, and in the context of host-pathogen interactions, staphylococcal SAg research has focused primarily on the role of these toxins in s...