Toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 (TSST-1) contains a long central alpha helix that forms the base of two grooves on opposite sides of the molecule. Previous studies indicated that residues 132, 135, and 140 along the back of the central alpha helix are important in the biological activities. We made mutations of additional central alpha-helix residues exposed along this groove on the back of TSST-1. The proteins were purified, shown not to have gross alteration in structure, and tested for both superantigenicity and ability to elicit lethal TSS, using the superantigenicity, likely to because of alteration in T-cell receptor binding. Mutants H135A, Q136A, and E132K/ Q136K lost the ability to induce lethal TSS. The mutant Q136A was most increasing because it was superantigenic, yet nonlethal.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 9. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 28 July 2026.
All research outputs
#5,056,682
of 34,054,827 outputs
Outputs from Infection and Immunity
#1,921
of 16,694 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#7,087
of 115,447 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Infection and Immunity
#18
of 97 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 34,054,827 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 83rd percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 16,694 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 5.9. This one has done well, scoring higher than 79% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 115,447 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 89% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 97 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 63% of its contemporaries.
