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Molecular and immunological characterization of novel weed pollen pan‐allergens
Author(s) -
Wopfner N.,
Gruber P.,
Wallner M.,
Briza P.,
Ebner C.,
Mari A.,
Richter K.,
Vogel L.,
Ferreira F.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
allergy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.363
H-Index - 173
eISSN - 1398-9995
pISSN - 0105-4538
DOI - 10.1111/j.1398-9995.2008.01635.x
Subject(s) - mugwort , pollen , allergen , profilin , ragweed , plant lipid transfer proteins , allergy , biology , immunology , sensitization , complementary dna , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry , botany , medicine , gene , cell , pathology , actin cytoskeleton , alternative medicine , cytoskeleton
Background: Pan‐allergens like profilins, calcium‐binding proteins (CBPs), and nonspecific lipid transfer proteins have been suggested as possible specific markers for multiple pollen sensitizations, and could be used to predict cross‐sensitization/poly‐sensitization to several pollen allergens. Therefore, the purification and characterization of cross‐reacting allergens in pollen is an extremely important task towards correct allergy diagnosis. Methods: New pan‐allergens were identified by screening a ragweed pollen cDNA library with sera of patients allergic to mugwort pollen. Resulting proteins were cloned, expressed, purified and characterized. Results: We report complete cDNA sequences of two profilin isoforms (Amb a 8.01 and Amb a 8.02), two isoforms of a 2EF‐hand CBP (Amb a 9.01 and Amb a 9.02), a new 3EF‐hand CBP (Amb a 10) from ragweed pollen and a 2EF‐hand CBP from mugwort (Art v 5). All these proteins were expressed in Escherichia coli , purified to homogeneity and characterized by biochemical and immunological means. Conclusions: The identified proteins are novel pan‐allergens and can be used as diagnostic markers for polysensitization and used in component‐resolved diagnosis.