RECEPTORS FOR TOXIC SHOCK SYNDROME TOXIN-1 AND STAPHYLOCOCCAL ENTEROTOXIN-A ON HUMAN BLOOD MONOCYTES

Staphylococcal toxic shock syndrome toxin-I (TSST-1) as well as staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA) and B (SEB) have recently been shown to bind directly to the class II major histocompatibility antigen, HLA-DR. Whereas others have characterized TSST-1 and SEA binding to HLA-DR on transfected L cells or B lymphoma cell lines, we sought evidence for direct binding of TSST-1 and SEA to HLA-DR on purified human monocytes. A single class of high-affinity receptors was found for both TSST-1 (dissociation constant (K(d)) 40 nM, 3.4 x 10(4) receptors per cell) and SEA (K(d) 12 nM, 3.2 x 10(4) receptors per cell) on normal human monocytes. Affinity cross-linking of I-125-labeled toxins to monocytes revealed the presence of two membrane protein subunits with molecular masses consistent with the alpha and beta chains of human HLA-DR (35 and 28 kDa, respectively). The anti-HLA-DR monoclonal antibody L243, but not L203 or 2.06, inhibited radiolabeled toxin binding to human monocytes and neutralized the mitogenic response of human T lymphocytes to both toxins. However, L243 was consistently more effective in blocking radiolabeled TSST-1 than SEA binding to human monocytes from the same donors, suggesting that TSST-1 and SEA may be binding to overlapping epitopes rather than to the same epitope on HLA-DR. Because TSST-1 and SEB bind to distinct epitopes on HLA-DR and because SEA cross competes with both TSST-1 and SEB on the HLA-DR receptor, we postulate that SEA occupies a binding site within HLA-DR that overlaps both TSST-1 and SEB. Future studies focused on receptor-mediated binding of these toxins to human monocytes and T lymphocytes from normal donors and toxic shock syndrome patients may reveal the underlying anomalies that predispose particular individuals to toxic shock syndrome.