title: Yellow jacket venom allergens, hyaluronidase and phospholipase: sequence similarity and antigenic cross-reactivity with their hornet and wasp homologs and possible implications for clinical allergy.
abstract: Three known allergens of yellow jacket (Vespula vulgaris) venom are antigen 5, hyaluronidase, and phospholipase. Yellow jacket antigen 5 has been previously cloned and expressed in bacteria; it contains 204 amino acid residues, and it has 69% and 60% sequence identities with the homologous proteins of white-faced hornet (Dolichovespula maculata) and wasp (Polistes annularis), respectively. These studies are now extended to yellow jacket hyaluronidase and phospholipase; they contain 331 and 300 amino acid residues, respectively, and they show 92% and 67% sequence identity with their homologs of white-faced hornet. Tests with the natural and the recombinant vespid allergens in mice indicate partial antigenic cross-reactivity of their homologous proteins at both B- and T-cell levels. There is greater cross-reactivity among hornet and yellow jacket allergens than that among hornet or yellow jacket and wasp allergens. The order of cross-reaction of the three vespid allergens is hyaluronidase > antigen 5 > phospholipase. The continuous (linear) B-cell epitopes of vespid allergens show greater cross-reactivity than their discontinuous epitopes do. The discontinuous B-cell epitopes are immunodominant for all vespid allergens. The low degree of cross-reactivity of the immunodominant discontinuous B-cell epitopes of vespid allergens should be taken into consideration in selection of venoms for immunotherapy of patients with sensitivity to multiple vespids.
authors.affiliation: Rockefeller University, New York 10021, USA.
authors.forename: T P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: King
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gonzalez
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Soldatova
mesh_terms: D000485:Allergens / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D052179:Antigens, Plant; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003429:Cross Reactions; D006821:Hyaluronoglucosaminidase / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000276:immunology*; D019476:Insect Proteins; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010741:Phospholipases A / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013154:Spleen; D014862:Wasp Venoms / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014863:Wasps / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens; D052179:Antigens, Plant; D019476:Insect Proteins; D014862:Wasp Venoms; D010741:Phospholipases A; C101836:allergen Ves v 2; D006821:Hyaluronoglucosaminidase; C101835:allergen Ves v 1