Superantigens promote <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> bloodstream infection by eliciting pathogenic interferon-gamma production

Abstract

<i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> is a foremost bacterial pathogen responsible for a vast array of human diseases. Staphylococcal superantigens (SAgs) constitute a family of exotoxins from <i>S. aureus</i> that bind directly to major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II and T cell receptors to drive extensive T cell activation and cytokine release. Although these toxins have been implicated in serious disease, including toxic shock syndrome, the specific pathological mechanisms remain unclear. Herein, we aimed to elucidate how SAgs contribute to pathogenesis during bloodstream infections and utilized transgenic mice encoding human MHC class II to render mice susceptible to SAg activity. We demonstrate that SAgs contribute to <i>S. aureus</i> bacteremia by massively increasing bacterial burden in the liver, and this was mediated by CD4⁺ T cells that produced interferon gamma (IFN-γ) to high levels in a SAg-dependent manner. Bacterial burdens were reduced by blocking IFN-γ, phenocopying SAg-deletion mutant strains, and inhibiting a proinflammatory response. Infection kinetics and flow cytometry analyses suggested that this was a macrophage-driven mechanism, which was confirmed through macrophage-depletion experiments. Experiments in human cells demonstrated that excessive IFN-γ allowed <i>S. aureus</i> to replicate efficiently within macrophages. This indicates that SAgs promote bacterial survival by manipulating the immune response to inhibit effective clearing of <i>S. aureus</i> Altogether, this work implicates SAg toxins as critical therapeutic targets for preventing persistent or severe <i>S. aureus</i> disease.