title: Biochemical safety evaluation of transgenic rice seeds expressing T cell epitopes of Japanese cedar pollen allergens.
abstract: Transgenic rice seeds, which express a hybrid peptide comprising seven predominant human T cell epitopes (7Crp) derived from Japanese cedar pollen allergens, have been shown to function as an effective edible vaccine for the control of pollen allergen-induced responses. In this study, we characterized biochemical properties of transgenic seeds expressing the 7Crp peptide. The levels of chemical compositions, such as carbohydrate, protein, lipid, amino acid, fatty acid, mineral, and vitamin, were substantially equivalent between transgenic 7Crp and its nontransgenic counterpart seeds. The contents of three major allergenic proteins in transgenic seeds were not enhanced by expression of the 7Crp peptide when compared with those of nontransgenic seeds. The 7Crp peptide expressed in seeds was susceptible to simulated gastric/intestinal fluids. N-Glycosylation was not observed in the 7Crp peptide sequence. These results indicate that transgenic 7Crp seeds are substantially equivalent to nontransgenic parental seeds except for the presence of the 7Crp peptide.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Food safety assessment; transgenic rice seed; edible vaccine; peptide-based immunotherapy; Japanese cedar pollinosis.
authors.affiliation: Transgenic Crop Research and Development Center, National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, 2-1-2 Kannondai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8602, Japan.
authors.forename: Hidenori
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takagi
authors.forename: Sakiko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hirose
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yasuda
authors.forename: Fumio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Takaiwa
mesh_terms: D000485:Allergens / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D029779:Cupressaceae / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D000939:Epitopes / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000517:prevention & control; D012275:Oryza / Q000276:immunology*; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000276:immunology*; D011058:Pollen / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D012639:Seeds / Q000276:immunology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D014612:Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens; D000939:Epitopes; D010940:Plant Proteins; D014612:Vaccines