Bovine Staphylococcus aureus superantigens stimulate the entire T cell repertoire of cattle

Wilson, G. J. , Tuffs, S. W., Wee, B. A., Seo, K. S., Park, N., Connelley, T., Guinane, C. M., Morrison, W. I. and Fitzgerald, J. R. (2018) Bovine Staphylococcus aureus superantigens stimulate the entire T cell repertoire of cattle. Infection and Immunity, 86(11), e00505-18. (doi: 10.1128/IAI.00505-18) (PMID:30201699) (PMCID:PMC6204692)

Abstract

Superantigens (SAgs) represent a diverse family of bacterial toxins that induce Vβ-specific T cell proliferation associated with an array of important diseases in humans and animals, including mastitis of dairy cows. However, an understanding of the diversity and distribution of SAg genes among bovine Staphylococcus aureus and their role in the pathogenesis of mastitis is lacking. Population genomic analysis of 195 bovine S. aureus isolates representing 57 unique sequence types revealed that strains encode 2 to 12 distinct SAgs and that the majority of isolates contain 5 or more SAg genes. A genome-scale analysis of bovine reference strain RF122 revealed a complement of 11 predicted SAg genes, which were all expressed in vitro. Detection of specific antibodies in convalescent cows suggests expression of 7 of 11 SAgs during natural S. aureus infection. We determined the Vβ T cell activation profile for all functional SAgs encoded by RF122 revealing evidence for bovine host-specific activity among recently identified RF122-encoded SAgs SElY and SElZ. Remarkably, we discovered that some strains have evolved the capacity to stimulate the entire T-cell repertoire of cattle through an array of diverse SAgs suggesting a key role in bovine immune evasion.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: J.R.F. was supported by grants BB/K00638X/1, BB/I013873/1 and institute strategic grant funding (BBS/E/D/20002173 from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (UK), a Medical Research Council (UK) doctoral training grant, and Zoetis Animal Health. This work was also partially supported by grants from Center for Biomedical Research Excellence in Pathogen-Host interactions, National Institute of General Medical Sciences, NIH (1P20GM103646-01A1) and Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, South Korea (I-1543081-2015-17-01) to K.S.S.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Wilson, Dr Gillian
• Authors: Wilson, G. J., Tuffs, S. W., Wee, B. A., Seo, K. S., Park, N., Connelley, T., Guinane, C. M., Morrison, W. I., and Fitzgerald, J. R.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Infection & Immunity
• Journal Name: Infection and Immunity
• Publisher: American Society for Microbiology
• ISSN: 0019-9567
• ISSN (Online): 1098-5522
• Published Online: 10 September 2018
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2018 Wilson et al.
• First Published: First published in Infection and Immunity 286(11): e00505-18
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License