title: Lep d 2 polymorphisms in wild and cultured Lepidoglyphus destructor mites.
abstract: We have previously cloned, expressed and characterized two variants of the major allergen Lep d 2 from cultured Lepidoglyphus destructor mites. These variants, Lep d 2.0101 and Lep d 2.0201, differ at 13 amino acid positions. In this study we investigated Lep d 2 sequence diversity between wild and cultured mites. PCR, Southern blot and DNA sequence analysis revealed the presence of two different Lep d 2 genes, one with and one without an intron. In addition, two new variants of Lep d 2, Lep d 2.0102 and Lep d 2.0202, were found at different frequencies in wild and cultured mites. When we expressed the Lep d 2 variants and compared their IgE binding properties by ELISA inhibition, we found that Lep d 2.0102 was a more potent inhibitor than Lep d 2.0101, and to a lesser extent Lep d 2.0202 was more potent than Lep d 2.0201. Long-term cultures of peripheral blood mononuclear cells were used to assess the ability of the expressed Lep d 2 variants to induce cytokine release. Although cells from different individuals released different amounts of interferon-gamma and interleukin-5, no consistent cytokine release pattern could be linked to any specific Lep d 2 variant. In conclusion, we show that both cultured and wild Lepidoglyphus destructor mites contain the same pattern of polymorphism. Furthermore, this Lep d 2 sequence diversity seems not to have any significant impact on the allergens IgE binding or its ability to induce T cell cytokine release.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Unit of Clinical Immunology and Allergy, Karolinska Hospital and Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. liselotte.kaiser@ks.se
authors.forename: Liselotte
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kaiser
authors.forename: Guro
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gafvelin
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Johansson
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: van Hage-Hamsten
authors.forename: Omid
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Rasool
mesh_terms: D000485:Allergens / Q000235:genetics* / Q000494:pharmacology; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D015151:Immunoblotting; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000378:metabolism; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000378:metabolism; D015848:Interleukin-5 / Q000378:metabolism; D008925:Mites / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000494:pharmacology; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens; D015848:Interleukin-5; C090039:Lep d I allergen; D011506:Proteins; D007073:Immunoglobulin E; D007371:Interferon-gamma