Abstract
A novel approach to reduce the anaphylactic activity of allergens is suggested. The strategy makes use of the presence of conformational immunoglobulin E (IgE) epitopes on one of the most common allergens. The three dimensional structure of the major birch pollen allergen, Bet v 1, was disrupted by expressing two parts of the Bet v 1 cDNA representing amino acids 1-74 and 75-160 in Escherichia coli. In contrast to the complete recombinant Bet v 1, the fragments showed almost no allergenicity and exhibited random coil conformation as analyzed by circular dichroism. Both nonanaphylactic fragments induced proliferation of human Bet v 1-specific T cell clones, indicating that they harbored all dominant T cell epitopes and therefore may be considered as a basis for the development of a safe and specific T cell immunotherapy.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1673-1681 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Journal of Clinical Investigation |
Volume | 99 |
Issue number | 7 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Apr 1 1997 |
Keywords
- Bet v 1
- histamine release
- major birch pollen allergen
- recombinant allergen fragments
- skin testing
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Medicine(all)