title: Characterization of the major allergen of Cynodon dactylon (Bermuda grass) pollen, Cyn d I.
abstract: An allergen from Cynodon dactylon (Bermuda grass) pollen, Cyn d I, has been purified by a combination of concanavalin A-Sepharose affinity chromatography, and carboxymethyl-Sepharose chromatography. The allergen constitutes the major allergenic component of the pollen extract as observed by immunoelectrophoretic techniques, sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, an IgE-inhibition experiment, and skin testing. In sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, Cyn d I is presented as a dominant 32 kd band and a minor 29 kd band, both binding IgE. Both bands are identified by monospecific rabbit antibodies (Abs) raised against Cyn d I. These Abs only weakly precipitate allergens from other grass species, indicating that Cyn d I possesses some unique immunochemical properties. Two of four purified murine monoclonal Abs raised against Cyn d I also bind to both bands of Cyn d I, indicating that the bands represent isoallergens with slightly different immunochemical properties. All four monoclonal Abs cross-react with pollen components from other grass species, especially Poa pratensis and Dactylis glomerata. The NH2-terminal sequence corresponding to approximately 10% of the complete sequence was determined, and it revealed high homology to the corresponding sequence of the major allergen of Lolium perenne, Lol p I. From the amino acid composition determination and immunoelectrophoretic comparison, the amount of Cyn d I in the source whole-pollen extract was estimated to be 15% wt/wt.
authors.affiliation: ALK Research, Hørsholm, Denmark.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Matthiesen
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Schumacher
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Løwenstein
mesh_terms: D000485:Allergens / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D052179:Antigens, Plant; D002846:Chromatography, Affinity; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D006801:Humans; D007122:Immunoelectrophoresis; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D008970:Molecular Weight; D010940:Plant Proteins; D006109:Poaceae; D011058:Pollen; D011817:Rabbits; D012685:Sepharose / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D012882:Skin Tests
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens; D052179:Antigens, Plant; C071778:CYND1 protein, Cynodon dactylon; D010940:Plant Proteins; C028326:concanavalin A-sepharose; D012685:Sepharose