Skip to main content
NCBI home page
The Journal of Experimental Medicine logoLink to The Journal of Experimental Medicine
. 1996 Mar 1;183(3):1105–1110. doi: 10.1084/jem.183.3.1105

The sequence of the Mycoplasma arthritidis superantigen, MAM: identification of functional domains and comparison with microbial superantigens and plant lectin mitogens

PMCID: PMC2192318  PMID: 8642252

Abstract

Mycoplasma arthritidis, an agent of chronic proliferative arthritis of rodents, secretes a potent soluble superantigen, MAM, that is active for both murine and human T and B lymphocytes. We now report the complete nucleotide and amino acid sequence of MAM and show it to be distinct from other proteins and not closely related phylogenetically to other superantigens. Two functional domains on MAM are identified based on the ability of peptides encompassing these regions to inhibit lymphocyte proliferation by the intact MAM molecule. One of these domains shares short sequences or epitopes with other microbial superantigens. The second domain contains the consensus legume lectin motif-beta, which is important for T cell activation by concanavalin (Con) A. MAM and Con A peptides containing this motif are functionally cross reactive, suggesting a novel secondary pathway for T cell activation by MAM.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (674.4 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Acha-Orbea H., Palmer E. Mls--a retrovirus exploits the immune system. Immunol Today. 1991 Oct;12(10):356–361. doi: 10.1016/0167-5699(91)90066-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Akolkar P. N., Chirmule N., Gulwani-Akolkar B., Pahwa S., Kalyanaraman V. S., Pergolizzi R., Macphail S., Silver J. V beta-specific activation of T cells by the HIV glycoprotein gp 160. Scand J Immunol. 1995 May;41(5):487–498. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3083.1995.tb03597.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Atkin C. L., Cole B. C., Sullivan G. J., Washburn L. R., Wiley B. B. Stimulation of mouse lymphocytes by a mitogen derived from Mycoplasma arthritidis. V. A small basic protein from culture supernatants is a potent T cell mitogen. J Immunol. 1986 Sep 1;137(5):1581–1589. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Atkin C. L., Wei S., Cole B. C. The Mycoplasma arthritidis superantigen MAM: purification and identification of an active peptide. Infect Immun. 1994 Dec;62(12):5367–5375. doi: 10.1128/iai.62.12.5367-5375.1994. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Beutner U., Frankel W. N., Cote M. S., Coffin J. M., Huber B. T. Mls-1 is encoded by the long terminal repeat open reading frame of the mouse mammary tumor provirus Mtv-7. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1992 Jun 15;89(12):5432–5436. doi: 10.1073/pnas.89.12.5432. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Chou P. Y., Fasman G. D. Prediction of the secondary structure of proteins from their amino acid sequence. Adv Enzymol Relat Areas Mol Biol. 1978;47:45–148. doi: 10.1002/9780470122921.ch2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Cole B. C., Atkin C. L. The Mycoplasma arthritidis T-cell mitogen, MAM: a model superantigen. Immunol Today. 1991 Aug;12(8):271–276. doi: 10.1016/0167-5699(91)90125-D. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Cole B. C., Griffiths M. M. Triggering and exacerbation of autoimmune arthritis by the Mycoplasma arthritidis superantigen MAM. Arthritis Rheum. 1993 Jul;36(7):994–1002. doi: 10.1002/art.1780360717. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Conrad B., Weidmann E., Trucco G., Rudert W. A., Behboo R., Ricordi C., Rodriquez-Rilo H., Finegold D., Trucco M. Evidence for superantigen involvement in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus aetiology. Nature. 1994 Sep 22;371(6495):351–355. doi: 10.1038/371351a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Crow M. K., Zagon G., Chu Z., Ravina B., Tumang J. R., Cole B. C., Friedman S. M. Human B cell differentiation induced by microbial superantigens: unselected peripheral blood lymphocytes secrete polyclonal immunoglobulin in response to Mycoplasma arthritidis mitogen. Autoimmunity. 1992;14(1):23–32. doi: 10.3109/08916939309077353. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Derewenda Z., Yariv J., Helliwell J. R., Kalb A. J., Dodson E. J., Papiz M. Z., Wan T., Campbell J. The structure of the saccharide-binding site of concanavalin A. EMBO J. 1989 Aug;8(8):2189–2193. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1989.tb08341.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Garnier J., Osguthorpe D. J., Robson B. Analysis of the accuracy and implications of simple methods for predicting the secondary structure of globular proteins. J Mol Biol. 1978 Mar 25;120(1):97–120. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(78)90297-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Hoffmann M. L., Jablonski L. M., Crum K. K., Hackett S. P., Chi Y. I., Stauffacher C. V., Stevens D. L., Bohach G. A. Predictions of T-cell receptor- and major histocompatibility complex-binding sites on staphylococcal enterotoxin C1. Infect Immun. 1994 Aug;62(8):3396–3407. doi: 10.1128/iai.62.8.3396-3407.1994. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Hopp T. P., Woods K. R. Prediction of protein antigenic determinants from amino acid sequences. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1981 Jun;78(6):3824–3828. doi: 10.1073/pnas.78.6.3824. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Ito Y., Abe J., Yoshino K., Takeda T., Kohsaka T. Sequence analysis of the gene for a novel superantigen produced by Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and expression of the recombinant protein. J Immunol. 1995 Jun 1;154(11):5896–5906. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Izard J. W., Kendall D. A. Signal peptides: exquisitely designed transport promoters. Mol Microbiol. 1994 Sep;13(5):765–773. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.1994.tb00469.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Jardetzky T. S., Brown J. H., Gorga J. C., Stern L. J., Urban R. G., Chi Y. I., Stauffacher C., Strominger J. L., Wiley D. C. Three-dimensional structure of a human class II histocompatibility molecule complexed with superantigen. Nature. 1994 Apr 21;368(6473):711–718. doi: 10.1038/368711a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Kappler J. W., Herman A., Clements J., Marrack P. Mutations defining functional regions of the superantigen staphylococcal enterotoxin B. J Exp Med. 1992 Feb 1;175(2):387–396. doi: 10.1084/jem.175.2.387. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Kotzin B. L., Leung D. Y., Kappler J., Marrack P. Superantigens and their potential role in human disease. Adv Immunol. 1993;54:99–166. doi: 10.1016/s0065-2776(08)60534-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Laurence J., Hodtsev A. S., Posnett D. N. Superantigen implicated in dependence of HIV-1 replication in T cells on TCR V beta expression. Nature. 1992 Jul 16;358(6383):255–259. doi: 10.1038/358255a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Marrack P., Kappler J. The staphylococcal enterotoxins and their relatives. Science. 1990 May 11;248(4956):705–711. doi: 10.1126/science.2185544. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Sharon N., Lis H. Legume lectins--a large family of homologous proteins. FASEB J. 1990 Nov;4(14):3198–3208. doi: 10.1096/fasebj.4.14.2227211. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Tomai M. A., Aelion J. A., Dockter M. E., Majumdar G., Spinella D. G., Kotb M. T cell receptor V gene usage by human T cells stimulated with the superantigen streptococcal M protein. J Exp Med. 1991 Jul 1;174(1):285–288. doi: 10.1084/jem.174.1.285. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Torres B. A., Griggs N. D., Johnson H. M. Bacterial and retroviral superantigens share a common binding region on class II MHC antigens. Nature. 1993 Jul 8;364(6433):152–154. doi: 10.1038/364152a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Wang B., Schlievert P. M., Gaber A. O., Kotb M. Localization of an immunologically functional region of the streptococcal superantigen pepsin-extracted fragment of type 5 M protein. J Immunol. 1993 Aug 1;151(3):1419–1429. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Weisburg W. G., Tully J. G., Rose D. L., Petzel J. P., Oyaizu H., Yang D., Mandelco L., Sechrest J., Lawrence T. G., Van Etten J. A phylogenetic analysis of the mycoplasmas: basis for their classification. J Bacteriol. 1989 Dec;171(12):6455–6467. doi: 10.1128/jb.171.12.6455-6467.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of Experimental Medicine are provided here courtesy of The Rockefeller University Press

RESOURCES