Enterotoxins of Staphylococci
Abstract
Over the last 15 years, significant accomplishments have been made in several aspects of staphylococcal enterotoxin research; for example, all of the known serotypes have been purified, SEC 1 has been chemically sequenced, the genes of both SEA and SEB have been cloned and their DNA sequenced, and the roles of plasmids and phage have been developed. However, major gaps in our knowledge remain. Foremost among these are the mode of action, the nature of the active site, and the three-dimensional structure of the molecules. Establishing the amino acid sequence of type E should not pose a great problem and, with the soon-to-be-published SEA sequence, a definition of the conserved residues in four serotypes will be of enormous value. The crystals of SEB recently obtained provide reason to hope for a successful x-ray diffraction study. The most urgent need is for a cell system with which the enterotoxins bind and/or induce a well-defined biochemical effect. It is to be hoped that the effect on cutaneous mast cells will provide a step in this direction. Keywords: Epidemiology, Clones, Genetics, Immunology, Reprints.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1988
- Accession Number
- ADA201152
Entities
People
- Anna Johnson-winegar
- James J. Schmidt
- Leonard Spero
Organizations
- United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases