In article <3825E719.1D99B0B5 at hsc.vcu.edu>,
Tammy Ferguson <tjfergus at hsc.vcu.edu> wrote:
>I think that only bacteria produce proteins that can act as superantigens, toxic
>shock toxin from Staph. aureus for example. At least I have never heard of any
>from viruses.
There are also viral superantigens. Superantigens have been identified in
the murine retroviruses MMTV (mouse mammary tumor virus) and MuLV (murine
leukemia virus), and there is evidence that HIV may also produce a
superantigen. I believe that the murine retroviral superantigens are
membrane-bound, but may have secreted forms as well.
Ken Frauwirth
--
Ken Frauwirth (MiSTie #33025) kfrauwir at midway.uchicago.edu
Abramson Cancer Research Institute
University of Pennsylvania
http://mail.med.upenn.edu/~kfrauwir
