Staphylococcal Toxic Shock Syndrome Toxin-1 Induces the Translocation and Secretion of High Mobility Group-1 Protein from Both Activated T Cells and Monocytes

Abstract EN

High mobility group box-1 (HMGB-1) is a DNA-binding protein secreted by activated monocytes and has been identified as a key late mediator of endotoxic shock.

We investigated the regulation of HMGB-1 in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) following stimulation with the staphylococcal superantigen, toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 (TSST-1), and found that TSST-1, like LPS, induced the secretion of HMGB-1 from human PBMC.

However, unlike monocyte-driven sepsis caused by endotoxin, translocation and secretion of HMGB-1 mediated by TSST-1 was dependent on the presence of both activated T cells and monocytes.

Furthermore, we show that nuclear HMGB-1 is released from TSST-1 stimulated T cells.

This finding presents a basis for investigating the potential of targeting HMGB-1 for the treatment of toxic shock syndrome, and provides further insight on the role of HMGB-1 in the cross-talk between activated monocytes and T cells.