Overview

Staphylococcal enterotoxins represent a group of proteins, which are secreted by Staphylococcus aureus and cause the intoxication staphylococcal food poisoning syndrome. The illness characterized by high fever, hypotension, diarrhea, shock, and in some cases death. Their molecular masses range between 27 and 30 kDa. At present, seven enterotoxins are known, namely A, B, C1, C2, C3, D and E. Their amino acid sequences have been determined and it was shown that all are single chain polypeptides containing one disulfide bond formed by two half cysteine located in the middle of the polypeptide chain, which form the so called cysteine loop. Enterotoxins are extremely potent activator of T cells, stimulating the production and secretion of various cytokines, which mediate many of the toxic effects of these substances. Enterotoxins are super antigens, inducing polyclonal T cell activation by binding to the TCR and to the alpha chain of the MHC II molecule simultaneously. Primary antibodies are available purified, or with a selection of fluorescent CF® Dyes and other labels. CF® Dyes offer exceptional brightness and photostability. Note: Conjugates of blue fluorescent dyes like CF®405S and CF®405M are not recommended for detecting low abundance targets, because blue dyes have lower fluorescence and can give higher non-specific background than other dye colors.