title: The immunostimulatory effect of the recombinant apalbumin 1-major honeybee royal jelly protein-on TNFalpha release.
abstract: Apalbumin1 (Apa1) is the major royal jelly (RJ) and honey glycoprotein having various biological properties. We have previously demonstrated that Apa1 is a regular component of honey and honeybee pollen and stimulates macrophages to release tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha). The recombinant Apa1 (rApa1) and its four recombinant protein fragments derived on the basis of partial tryptic products of Apa1 were prepared by heterologous expression in Escherichia coli BL21-CodonPlus(DE3)-RIL. L-arginine at 50 mM concentration was used for improving the recombinant protein solubility. We report that the proteinous moiety of glycoprotein is responsible for stimulation of TNFalpha production by murine peritoneal macrophages. Moreover, we have shown that immunostimulatory effect is significantly increased after partial tryptic digestion of Apa1. It has been determined that recombinant N-terminal fragment of Apa1 is the most active elicitor of TNFalpha release in comparison to other three protein fragments of Apa1, as well as to the native Apa1 and rApa1. Furthermore, it was found that native honey was able to stimulate TNFalpha secretion from murine macrophages, whereas the deproteinized honey had no effect on the release of TNFalpha. This result suggests that immunostimulatory effect of honey is based on its RJ-protein content, primarily on its dominant protein Apa1.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Apidology, Institute of Molecular Biology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 21, 845 51 Bratislava, Slovak Republic.
authors.forename: Juraj
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Majtán
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kovácová
authors.forename: Katarína
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bíliková
authors.forename: Jozef
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Simúth
mesh_terms: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees / Q000378:metabolism*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006722:Honey / Q000032:analysis; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008264:Macrophages / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology; D014357:Trypsin / Q000737:chemistry; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000378:metabolism*; D000099219:Royal Jelly
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D005227:Fatty Acids; D006023:Glycoproteins; D019476:Insect Proteins; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D014357:Trypsin; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D000099219:Royal Jelly; C509394:apalbumin 1, honeybee