title: A bovine dander allergen, comparative modeling, and similarities and differences in folding with related proteins.
abstract: The most important allergenic protein in cow dander and urine is Bos d 2. It is proposed to belong to the family of lipocalins, which are proteins capable of binding small hydrophobic molecules. The allergenic properties of Bos d 2 indicate an interaction between the accessible regions of the native protein and IgE. In this work, a three-dimensional model was created for Bos d 2 by comparative modeling, and features characteristic of outlier lipocalins were observed. The protruding regions of the surface were characterized and used in predicting the possible B-cell epitopes. There is a pocket inside the core and its size is appropriate for small molecules. The model shows a hydrophilic amino acid side chain of glutamic acid 115 on the inner surface of the hole and a phenylalanine as the "gatekeeper" instead of tyrosine, which is common in experimentally modeled lipocalins.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Kuopio, Finland. santa@kummeli.uku.fi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Santa
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Saarela
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Laatikainen
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rautianen
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Virtanen
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rytkönen
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mäntyjärvi
mesh_terms: D000485:Allergens / Q000737:chemistry*; D000510:Alpha-Globulins / Q000737:chemistry; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000727:Androgen-Binding Protein / Q000737:chemistry; D000818:Animals; D052179:Antigens, Plant; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D002417:Cattle; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017510:Protein Folding; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D012177:Retinol-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens; D000510:Alpha-Globulins; D000727:Androgen-Binding Protein; D052179:Antigens, Plant; C113339:Bos d 2 allergen; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D012177:Retinol-Binding Proteins; C027519:probasin