植物过敏性蛋白质及其生物学功能

在引起I型超敏反应的变应原中 ,植物的花粉、果实和汁液可以分别作为吸入性变应原 (inhalentallergen)、食入性变应原 (ingestentallergen)、接触性变应原 (contactentallergen)使过敏者患上鼻炎、哮喘、枯草热等疾病。而其中引起这些超敏反应的植物类蛋白质本身在植物体内亦行使着特定的生物学功能。对这些植物类过敏性蛋白质的研究不仅在植物学本身研究中具有一定意义 ,同时在变态反应性疾病的免疫治疗中亦具有重要的应用价值。目前 ,这类涉及植物学、免疫学和变态反应学的研究逐渐形成了一个新的交叉研究领域。     

花粉症的中国历程

花粉症是由花粉变应原引起的IgE介导的累及呼吸道、皮肤等系统的过敏性疾病,近年来发病率有逐渐升高的趋势.通过花粉监测绘制花粉地图和花粉日历有助于进行花粉症的防护.花粉症还受气象因素影响,可出现雷暴哮喘.花粉症与食物过敏具有相关性,可引起口腔过敏综合征甚至严重过敏反应,患者可能表现为由过敏性鼻炎发展至哮喘的自然进程.花粉症的检测方法分为体内试验和体外试验,避免花粉、药物治疗和脱敏治疗为主要的治疗手段,生物制剂奥马珠单抗用于花粉症的治疗具有良好的有效性和安全性.     

义乌地区儿童过敏性结膜炎过敏原分析

目的了解过敏性结膜炎患儿常见过敏原及其分布特征,为预防和脱敏治疗提供依据。方法采用免疫印迹法对363例过敏性结膜炎患儿进行血清过敏原检测,并对结果进行分组比较。结果患儿中检出率居前3位的吸入性过敏原分别为尘螨(50.41%)、猫毛(3.03%)和霉菌(2.48%);检出率居前3位的食物性过敏原分别为淡水鱼(10.74%)、海鱼(7.44%)和鸡蛋白(6.34%)。吸入性过敏原(62.26%)和食物性过敏原(41.60%)总检出率比较差异有统计学意义(P0.05)。婴幼儿组、学龄前组和学龄组患儿均以尘螨为常见过敏原,其检出率分别为33.33%、52.76%和52.00%。不同年龄患儿牛奶过敏检出率比较差异有统计学意义(P0.05),婴幼儿组牛奶过敏检出率最高,为12.82%。男、女患儿过敏原阳性率比较差异无统计学意义(P0.05)。不同年龄患儿过敏原阳性率比较差异无统计学意义(P0.05)。婴幼儿组、学龄前组和学龄组患儿均以单纯吸入性过敏原和单一过敏原为常见。1月-3月为儿童过敏性结膜炎的低发季节。结论通过血清过敏原检测可明确过敏性结膜炎的过敏原。尘螨是本地区儿童过敏性结膜炎常见过敏原。     

厦门地区过敏性疾病儿童过敏原分析

目的:调查厦门地区儿童常见过敏性疾病的致病情况及过敏原,为临床防治提供依据。方法:利用免疫印迹法半定量检测患儿血清中的过敏原特异性Ig E抗体,对其分布情况进行分析。结果:厦门地区最常见过敏性疾病为哮喘,393例患儿总阳性率为89.3%,吸入性过敏原前三位是尘螨组合、蟑螂和狗上皮;食物性过敏原前三位是花生、牛奶和鸡蛋白。婴幼儿组食物过敏原阳性率高于吸入过敏原,且学龄前组与婴幼儿组相比,食物过敏原阳性率下降,吸入过敏原阳性率上升,吸入性+食物性过敏原在各个年龄段均占最大比重。大多数患儿同时具有多种混合过敏原阳性,7种及以上的占22.4%。结论:通过检测血清中的过敏原特异性Ig E抗体,可以帮助临床合理寻找相应过敏原,为儿童过敏性疾病的预防、诊断和治疗提供依据。     

屋尘螨Ⅰ类变应原Der p1的体内定位

对过敏性疾病主要过敏原屋尘螨Dermatophagoides pteronyssinusⅠ类变应原（Der p1）进行了抗原定位研究。选用经表达和纯化的Der p1抗原蛋白,按常规方法免疫小鼠,分离血清获抗重组Der p1的抗体（Ⅰ抗）,用抗鼠IgG荧光抗体为Ⅱ抗,屋尘螨经石蜡切片,在荧光显微镜下对其特异性变应原的定位进行观察。HE染色显示屋尘螨消化系统占据大部分体腔。组织免疫荧光发现屋尘螨Ⅰ类变应原主要定位于螨的中肠组织及肠内容物,而螨的生殖系统、排泄系统等脏器以及几丁质甲壳均呈阴性反应。据此认为屋尘螨Ⅰ类变应原存在于螨的肠内容物和中肠组织中。     

变应原疫苗的标准化

全球范围生产和销售变应原疫苗,用来诊断和治疗IgE抗体介导的疾病.变应原疫苗是天然物质的混合物.每一种变应原提取物含有蛋白质、碳水化合物、酶、色素等物质,其中,具有变应原活性的物质只占一小部分.传统的变应原疫苗用投料比(重量/体积)标示疫苗,也有用凯氏定氮法测定蛋白氮标示疫苗,但是这两种标示疫苗的方法与疫苗的活性没有必然的关系.缺乏一致的方法来维持产品的一致性,疫苗批与批之间多样化是显然的.所以变应原疫苗的标准化是必须和必然的.变应原疫苗的标准化主要通过建立内部参考品,从变应原疫苗总蛋白组分、总蛋白含量、主要致敏蛋白的组成、主要致敏蛋白的含量、体内体外实验测定总活性这几个方面,每批产品与内部参考品相比较,达到产品批与批之间的一致性.在美国和欧洲的变应原标准化存在一定的差异,本文从美国和欧洲变应原疫苗的标准化历程介绍变应原疫苗标准化的方法和发展趋势.     

糖蛋白过敏原N-糖链与过敏的相关性研究

糖蛋白是一种含有寡糖链的蛋白质,糖链与蛋白质之间以共价键相连。N-糖蛋白为常见过敏原之一,主要来源于食物、吸入物、昆虫毒素等,能够引起过敏反应。N-糖蛋白过敏原的N-糖链结构影响过敏原与IgE的结合,影响抗原提呈细胞（APC）对过敏原的识别和提呈。本文在介绍与过敏相关的N-糖蛋白、常见N-糖蛋白过敏原的N-糖链结构及与过敏相关的糖基化酶的基础上,进一步分析过敏原N-糖链影响过敏的机制,为临床预防与治疗过敏性疾病提供新的思路。     

NF-κB介导哮喘过敏原刺激后支气管上皮细胞的凋亡

目的研究核转录因子κB(NF-κB)在哮喘过敏原刺激后支气管上皮细胞中的表达及对细胞凋亡的影响。方法以300U/L尘螨抗原提取物作为过敏原刺激支气管上皮细胞系16HBE细胞,应用RT-PCR和Western blot检测尘螨抗原提取物刺激对16HBE细胞NF-κB(p65)表达水平的影响;用NF-κB(p65)sh RNA沉默16HBE细胞内NF-κB表达后,应用流式细胞术和Western blot检测NF-κB(p65)在过敏原刺激诱导16HBE细胞凋亡中的作用。结果过敏原刺激后使16HBE细胞内NF-κB(p65)m RNA和蛋白水平明显上调,明显诱导16HBE细胞凋亡和活化型caspase-3水平上调,沉默NF-κB可使过敏原刺激诱导的16HBE细胞凋亡率降低和活化型caspase-3水平上调减少。结论 NF-κB可介导哮喘过敏原刺激后的支气管上皮细胞凋亡。     

RNA修饰与人类疾病研究进展

转录后修饰广泛存在于各种RNA分子中.这种化学修饰可通过调控RNA剪接、翻译、运输、定位、稳定性等多种方式发挥生物学功能.近年来,高通量测序技术及化学生物学检测等技术的快速发展使多种RNA修饰(如m⁶A, m⁵C, m¹A)的准确鉴定和定位问题取得突破. RNA修饰与编辑作为一类新的表观转录生物标志物,在肿瘤、神经系统疾病、免疫性疾病等多种疾病的诊断和治疗中受到广泛关注.本文主要综述了RNA修饰与编辑的生物学功能以及参与蛋白调控的分子机制,并重点回顾了其在疾病诊疗中的应用进展.     

AAV衣壳蛋白基因工程的修饰研究进展

腺相关病毒(AAV)作为栽体进行基因治疗已经越来越受人们的青睐,其安全性在帕金森病、囊性纤维病和视网膜疾病等单基因突变疾病临床治疗中得到证明.利用AAV栽体进行临床治疗的应用在逐渐增多,提高AAV靶向性和转染效率是人们期盼解决的一道难题.而目前对AAV衣壳蛋白基因工程的修饰,可以明显提高其转导效率和靶向性,一定程度上扫除了其广泛应用AAV的障碍.阐述重组AAV( rAAV)衣壳蛋白在基因工程修饰方面的研究进展及其对基因治疗应用前景的综述.     

Production of recombinant allergens in plants

A large percentage of allergenic proteins are of plant origin. Hence, plant-based expression systems are considered ideal for the recombinant production of certain allergens. First attempts to establish production of plant-derived allergens in plants focused on transient expression in Nicotiana benthamiana infected with recombinant viral vectors. Accordingly, allergens from birch and mugwort pollen, as well as from apple have been expressed in plants. Production of house dust mite allergens has been achieved by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of tobacco plants. Beside the use of plants as production systems, other approaches have focused on the development of edible vaccines expressing allergens or epitopes thereof, which bypasses the need of allergen purification. The potential of this approach has been convincingly demonstrated for transgenic rice seeds expressing seven dominant human T cell epitopes derived from Japanese cedar pollen allergens. Parallel to efforts in developing recombinant-based diagnostic and therapeutic reagents, different gene-silencing approaches have been used to decrease the expression of allergenic proteins in allergen sources. In this way hypoallergenic ryegrass, soybean, rice, apple, and tomato were developed.     

Provocation testing with recombinant allergens

In the past few decades, DNA technology has enabled the production of defined recombinant allergen molecules for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Recombinant allergens containing most of the relevant IgE epitopes present in natural allergen sources are now available and allergen proteins can be produced that are identical, without biological or batch-to-batch variation. A great advantage of recombinant allergens is that they can be used for component-resolved diagnostics, which makes it possible to establish the patient's individual IgE reactivity profile before therapy is selected. However, before recombinant allergens can be applied in clinical practice their biological activity has to be carefully investigated in vivo. We here describe the most commonly used provocation methods (skin tests (prick and intradermal), nasal, bronchial, and conjunctival provocations) and how they can be performed. We also discuss the results so far obtained with in vivo testing using recombinant allergens and envisage their future use for immunotherapy.     

Over-expression and production of plant allergens by molecular farming strategies

Recombinant allergens have become a valuable tool for diagnosis and may also be used for therapy in the near future. To supply the required large amounts of functional recombinant proteins on a cost-effective basis, the production of allergens in plants by molecular farming is an alternative to microbial expression systems. Especially as post-translational modifications of the allergens, e.g., phosphorylation and glycosylation, may be important for recognition by the human immune system, the plant-based production of recombinant allergens enables the correct folding, glycosylation, and other modifications of the recombinant allergen. An introduction to the methods for plant transformation via the tumor-inducing bacterium, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, is given in this paper.     

Disruption of allergenic activity of the major grass pollen allergen Phl p 2 by reassembly as a mosaic protein

The recognition of conformational epitopes on respiratory allergens by IgE Abs is a key event in allergic inflammation. We report a molecular strategy for the conversion of allergens into vaccines with reduced allergenic activity, which is based on the reassembly of non-IgE-reactive fragments in the form of mosaic proteins. This evolution process is exemplified for timothy grass pollen-derived Phl p 2, a major allergen for more than 200 million allergic patients. In a first step, the allergen was disrupted into peptide fragments lacking IgE reactivity. cDNAs coding for these peptides were reassembled in altered order and expressed as a recombinant mosaic molecule. The mosaic molecule had lost the three-dimensional structure, the IgE reactivity, and allergenic activity of the wild-type allergen, but it induced high levels of allergen-specific IgG Abs upon immunization. These IgG Abs crossreacted with group 2 allergens from other grass species and inhibited allergic patients' IgE binding to the wild-type allergen. The mosaic strategy is a general strategy for the reduction of allergenic activity of protein allergens and can be used to convert harmful allergens into safe vaccines.     

Rapid production of the major birch pollen allergen Bet v 1 in Nicotiana benthamiana plants and its immunological in vitro and in vivo characterization.

Type I allergies are immunological disorders that afflict a quarter of the world's population. Improved diagnosis of allergic diseases and the formulation of new therapeutic approaches are based on the use of recombinant allergens. We describe here for the first time the application of a rapid plant-based expression system for a plant-derived allergen and its immunological characterization. We expressed our model allergen Bet v 1, the major birch pollen allergen, in the tobacco-related species Nicotiana benthamiana using a tobacco mosaic virus vector. Two weeks postinoculation, plants infected with recombinant viral RNA containing the Bet v 1 coding sequence accumulated the allergen to levels of 200 microg/g leaf material. Total nonpurified protein extracts from plants were used for immunological characterizations. IgE immunoblots and ELISA (enzyme-linked immunoassay) inhibition assays showed comparable IgE binding properties for tobacco recombinant (r) Bet v 1 and natural (n) Bet v 1, suggesting that the B cell epitopes were preserved when the allergen was expressed in N. benthamiana plants. Using a murine model of type I allergy, mice immunized with crude leaf extracts containing Bet v 1 with purified rBet v 1 produced in E. coli or with birch pollen extract generated comparable allergen-specific IgE and IgG1 antibody responses and positive type I skin test reactions. These results demonstrate that nonpurified Bet v 1 overexpressed in N. benthamina has the same immunogenicity as purified Bet v 1 produced in E. coli or nBet v 1. We therefore conclude that this plant expression system offers a viable alternative to fermentation-based production of allergens in bacteria or yeasts. In addition, there may be a broad utility of this system for the development of new and low-cost vaccination strategies against allergy.     

Strategies for converting allergens into hypoallergenic vaccine candidates

Specific immunotherapy is based on the administration of increasing doses of allergens to allergic patients with the aim of inducing a state of antigen-specific unresponsiveness. Specific immunotherapy is one of the few causative treatment approaches for Type I allergy but may cause numerous side effects, including local inflammatory reactions, systemic manifestations (e.g., asthma attacks) and in the worst case, anaphylactic shock which may lead to death. Several attempts have been made in the past to reduce the rate of side effects. They included the chemical modification of allergen extracts to reduce their allergenic activity and the adsorption of allergen extracts to adjuvants to prevent the systemic release of allergens after administration. During the last decade, cDNAs coding for the most relevant allergens have been isolated and the corresponding allergens have been produced as recombinant molecules. Using allergen-encoding cDNAs, the amino acid sequence of allergens or purified recombinant allergens several strategies can now be applied to produce allergen derivatives with reduced allergenic activity for allergy vaccination in a controlled and reproducible manner. Currently, allergen-encoding cDNAs are used to engineer recombinant hypoallergenic allergen derivatives. According to the amino acid sequences and experimental epitope mapping data, synthetic peptides representing T- or B-cell epitopes are produced and purified recombinant allergens are coupled to novel adjuvants for vaccine formulation. In this article, strategies for the production and evaluation of allergen derivatives with reduced allergenic activity for allergy vaccination are described. These new vaccines hold great promise to improve the current practice of allergen-specific immunotherapy and maybe also used for prophylactic vaccination in the future.     

Microarrayed allergens for IgE profiling

Diagnosis of type I allergy is based on anamnesis, provocation testing, and serological determination of total and specific IgE. Currently, in vivo and in vitro diagnostic tests employ allergen extracts prepared from various allergen sources (e.g., pollen, mites, animal dander, moulds, foods, venoms, etc.). The application of recombinant DNA technology to the field of allergen characterization has allowed to reveal the molecular nature of the most common allergens. To date a continuously increasing number of allergen sequences has become available and panels of recombinant allergens-assembling the epitope complexity of natural allergens sources-can be produced. The use of recombinant allergens instead of crude, natural extracts for allergy diagnosis allows us to determine the individual IgE reactivity profile of each patient. To enable a comprehensive analysis of the patient's IgE binding pattern to a large number of individual allergens, a new type of serological test is required. In this paper, we applied microarray technology to create a multi-allergen test system, based on microarrayed recombinant allergens.     

Recombinant allergens for analysing T-cell responses

T-cell responses constitute a central element of allergic disease and a model for studying Th1 and Th2 cytokine pathways. Most studies to date have used extracts of allergens which contain variable quantities of different allergens and non-allergenic antigens. Recombinant allergens provide the tools for studying the responses to allergens in a reproducible and dose-dependent manner and the different T-cell responses of allergic and non-allergic subjects provide a method for verifying the responses and their relationship to allergic sensitisation. Most allergies show dominant responses to one or a few major allergens. These allergens have been described for the common allergies and have been produced as recombinant allergens. A particular problem for allergens is that many are mixtures of proteins from multi-gene families or are highly polymorphic. Information now exists so the sequence variation can be represented. Purified recombinant allergens produced by standard expression systems stimulate the expected T-cell responses from the peripheral blood of allergic and non-allergics to allergen extracts. Although stimulation with recombinant allergens which are not produced with a natural IgE binding activity can provide a measure of allergenicity, the altered tertiary structure can reduce Th2 responses. The sequence information now available provides the means to use PCR to produce cDNA for the production of recombinant allergens from readily available sources. The production of the highly reactive recombinant Der p 2 allergen of house dust mite from natural sources is described.     

Recombinant proteins and peptides as diagnostic and therapeutic reagents for arthropod allergies

Domestic arthropods are chief sources of potent allergens that trigger sensitization and stimulate IgE-mediated allergies. Diagnosis and immunotherapy of arthropod allergies rely on the use of natural allergen extracts which are associated with low specificity and efficacy, the risk of anaphylactic reactions, and the extended period of treatment. Most of the problems associated with natural allergen extracts for allergy diagnosis and immunotherapy can be circumvented with the use of recombinant allergens and peptides. Recombinant allergens are recently developed for microarray-based multi-allergen tests which provide component-resolved diagnosis (CRD) of the patient's sensitization profile. Moreover, recombinant protein technology and peptide chemistry have been used to construct isoallergens, allergen mutants, allergoids, T and B cell peptides, hypoallergens, and mimotopes with reduced allergenicity but enhanced immunogenicity for allergen-specific immunotherapy (SIT) and vaccination. The basics of recombinant arthropod allergen technology are in place providing a lucid future for the advancement of diagnosis and immunotherapy of arthropod allergies.     

Molecular characterization of American cockroach tropomyosin (Periplaneta americana allergen 7), a cross-reactive allergen

Inhalation of allergens produced by the American cockroach (Periplaneta americana) induces IgE Ab production and the development of asthma in genetically predisposed individuals. The cloning and expression in Escherichia coli of P. americana tropomyosin allergen have been achieved. The protein shares high homology with other arthropod tropomyosins (80% identity) but less homology with vertebrate ones (50% identity). The recombinant allergen was produced in E. coli as a nonfusion protein with a yield of 9 mg/l of bacterial culture. Both natural and recombinant tropomyosins were purified by isoelectric precipitation. P. americana allergen 1 (Per a 1) and Per a 7 (tropomyosin) are to date the only cross-reacting allergens found in cockroaches. ELISA and Western blot inhibition experiments, using natural and recombinant purified tropomyosins from shrimp and cockroach, showed that tropomyosin induced cross-reactivity of IgE from patients allergic to these allergens, suggesting that this molecule could be a common allergen among invertebrates.