Bacterial superantigen specificities of mouse T cell receptor V beta 20

The study of the mouse T cell receptor (TcR) beta chain repertoire in BALB/c thymocytes led to the identification of the V beta 20 gene segment. The expression of V beta 20 estimated at the transcriptional level differs among mouse strains, suggesting clonal deletion. In the present study, we reconstituted by transfection functional TcR using the V beta 20 segment with different V alpha segments and studied the action of superantigen toxins. The V beta 20-transfectant T cells are activated by staphylococcal enterotoxins A and E (SEA and SEE) but not by the other tested toxins. The activation is dependent on the presence of cells expressing major histocompatibility complex class II molecules. Different HLA DR alleles can present the bacterial toxins, establishing that they interact with TcRV beta 20 as superantigens. Moreover, the V alpha domain associated with the V beta 20 domain has an influence on the response to these toxins. The fact that V beta 20 is recognized by SEA and SEE, although both toxins are known to interact with different sets of V beta, suggests the presence of different TcR binding sites on the toxins.