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Expression of staphylococcal superantigens during nasal colonization is not sufficient to induce a systemic neutralizing antibody response in humans

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Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus carriers have high-titer serum antibodies against non-enterotoxin gene cluster (egc) superantigens, whereas they lack anti-egc antibodies, suggesting different superantigen expression profiles in vivo. We measured the superantigen transcripts in S. aureus directly isolated from the nose of persistent carriers and correlated them with the superantigen-neutralizing antibody response. While neutralizing serum antibodies against the staphylococcal enterotoxins A and C (SEA and SEC) were found in carriers, antibodies against the egc-encoded staphylococcal enterotoxin-like toxin O (SElO) were rare. Surprisingly, the transcription of selo was comparable to sea and sec during nasal colonization. Thus, egc superantigens are transcribed during nasal colonization, but this is not sufficient to induce a serum antibody response.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) (GRK840, SFB-TR34, SFB766), the Alfried Krupp Wissenschaftskolleg Greifswald, and the IZKF of Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen (1596-0-1). We thank Matthias Hauptmann (University Greifswald) and Gerard Lina (Centre National de référence des Staphylocoques) for kindly providing the SEC and SEA-MBP, respectively. We thank Vittoria Bisanzio for the expert technical assistance.

Conflict of interest

The authors do not have any commercial or other associations that might pose a conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Interfaculty Institute for Genetics and Functional Genomics, Ernst Moritz Arndt University Greifswald, Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Str. 15a, 17487, Greifswald, Germany

    M. Burian

  2. Institute of Immunology and Transfusion Medicine, Ernst Moritz Arndt University, Greifswald, Germany

    D. Grumann, S. Holtfreter & B. M. Bröker

  3. Interfaculty Institute for Microbiology and Infection Medicine, University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany

    M. Burian, C. Wolz & C. Goerke

Authors
  1. M. Burian
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  2. D. Grumann
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  3. S. Holtfreter
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  4. C. Wolz
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  5. C. Goerke
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  6. B. M. Bröker
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. Burian.

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Marc Burian and Dorothee Grumann contributed equally to this paper.

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Burian, M., Grumann, D., Holtfreter, S. et al. Expression of staphylococcal superantigens during nasal colonization is not sufficient to induce a systemic neutralizing antibody response in humans. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 31, 251–256 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-011-1302-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-011-1302-2

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