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A V beta 4-specific superantigen encoded by a new exogenous mouse mammary tumor virus.
Journal article

A V beta 4-specific superantigen encoded by a new exogenous mouse mammary tumor virus.

  • 1996-05-01
Published in:
  • European journal of immunology. - 1996
Amino Acid Sequence
Animals
Animals, Newborn
Antigen Presentation
Base Sequence
CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes
Clonal Deletion
Cloning, Molecular
Female
Histocompatibility Antigens Class II
Lymphocyte Activation
Mammary Tumor Virus, Mouse
Mice
Mice, Inbred BALB C
Mice, Inbred C57BL
Mice, Transgenic
Milk
Molecular Sequence Data
Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta
Retroviridae Infections
Superantigens
Tumor Virus Infections
English The superantigen (SAg) expressed by mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) has been shown to play an essential role in the course of the viral life cycle. In the present study, we describe a V beta 4-specific SAg encoded by a new exogenous MMTV carried by the SIM mouse strain. This is the first report of a viral or bacterial SAg reacting with mouse V beta 4+ T cells. Injection of MMTV(SIM) into adult BALB/c mice leads to a rapid and strong stimulation of V beta 4+ CD4+ T cells, followed by a slow deletion of these cells. Neonatal exposure to the virus also leads to a progressive deletion of V beta 4+ T cells. In contrast to other strong MMTV SAg, this new SAg requires the presence of major histocompatibility complex class II I-E molecules to be presented efficiently to T cells. Sequence analysis revealed a new predicted amino acid sequence in the C-terminal polymorphic region of this SAg. Furthermore, sequence comparisons to the most closely related SAg with different V beta specificities hint at the specific residues involved in the interaction with the T cell receptor.
Language
  • English
Open access status
closed
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://sonar.ch/global/documents/277673
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