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T Cell‐Dependent Antibody Response to Staphylococcal Enterotoxin B
Author(s) -
WILLIAMS O.,
AROEIRA L. S.,
MENGEL J.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.934
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1365-3083
pISSN - 0300-9475
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3083.1995.tb03660.x
Subject(s) - enterotoxin , immunology , antibody , superantigen , t cell , in vivo , splenocyte , in vitro , biology , immunization , humoral immunity , antibody response , b cell , immune system , microbiology and biotechnology , escherichia coli , biochemistry , gene
Treatment of mice with staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) induces specific T‐cell tolerance to this superantigen, characterized by partial deletion of Vβ8 + T cells in vivo and T cell anergy in vitro . In this study we examined the humoral response to SEB in BALB/c mice. Immunization of mice with SEB results in a detectable anti‐SEB antibody response. Upon further treatment of mice with SEB, specific antibody levels increase significantly and the response is accelerated—characteristics of a secondary humoral response. The secondary antibody response is T cell dependent, can be transferred to T cell deficient mice with splenocytes and is composed mainly of IgM, IgG1 and IgG2b isotypes, suggesting that Th2 cells provide B cell help in this response. These data demonstrate that at the same time as inducing in vitro unresponsiveness, SEB primes SEB‐specific T helper cells to provide help for B cells in a secondary antibody response.