Early Activation and Cell Trafficking Induced by Staphylococcal Enterotoxin B: Effects of High- versus Low-Dose Challenge on Induction of Anergy

The in vivo challenge with exogenous superantigen, staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB), selectively induces vigorous polyclonal proliferation of T cells bearing the Vβ8+ TcR domain, whereafter the responsive cells become anergic. We used kinetic analyses to compare the effects of primary (1°) and secondary (2°) challenge with a high and a low dose of SEB and the conventional antigen, sperm whale myoglobin, to determine the differential effects of in vivo challenge with a superantigen compared with a conventional antigen. We demonstrate that SEB induces very early activation-associated intralymphatic proliferation and trafficking of more T cells than can be accounted for by Vβ8+ T cells alone. Overall, this study indicates that challenge with SEB causes an apparent loss of CD4+ T-helper cell function and provides an essential foundation for the understanding of the mechanisms of peripheral tolerance induction and T cell "memory."