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Among the factors contributing to the virulence of Staphylococcus aureus are the relative inability of the immune response to control infection with this pathogen and the lack of a protective immune response that prevents subsequent infection. Why the immune response is so weak in this regard has been unclear. Now, researchers have found evidence that S. aureus induces a distorted immune response that is primarily focused on a secreted and surface-bound virulence factor, protein A (SpA), that has superantigen activity and can nonspecifically bind to both Fc and Fab antibody regions.
Peripheral blood plasmablasts were isolated from 18 patients with S. aureus infection. Sequence analysis performed on generated monoclonal antibodies revealed an…