Putative staphylococcal enterotoxin possesses two common structural motifs for MHC-II binding

Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus has become a significant cause of health risks in humankind. Staphylococcal superantigens (SAgs) or enterotoxins are the key virulent factors that can exhibit acute diseases to severe life-threatening conditions. Recent literature reports S. aureus has steadily gained new enterotoxin genes over the past few decades. In spite of current knowledge of the established SAgs, several questions on these putative enterotoxins are still remaining unanswered. Keeping that in mind, this study sheds light on a putative enterotoxin SEl26 to characterize its structural and functional properties. In-silico analyses indicate its close relation with the conventional SAgs, especially the zinc-binding SAgs. Additionally, important residues have been predicted that are vital for T-Cell receptor (TcR) and major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC-II) interaction and compared them with established SAgs. Besides, our biochemical analyses exhibited the binding of this putative enterotoxin with MHC-II, followed by regulating pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines.