Breaking the Vicious Cycle of Staphylococcal aureus Skin Colonization and Progression of Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma
We read with interest the report of Zeng et al (2024) that provides insight into the mechanism(s) whereby skin colonization by Staphylococcal aureus plays a key role in progression of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL). S aureus is known to produce >20 enterotoxins (so called superantigens) that crosslink major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II molecules on the surface of antigen-presenting cells with the beta chain of the TCR in the skin and elsewhere. This MHC–T-cell cross-linking activates T cells irrespective of any antigen presentation, to release cytokines such as IFN-γ (Tuffs et al, 2022).
