title: Alternaria alternata TCTP, a novel cross-reactive ascomycete allergen.
abstract: Defining more comprehensively the allergen repertoire of the ascomycete Alternaria alternata is undoubtedly of immense medical significance since this mold represents one of the most important, worldwide occurring fungal species responsible for IgE-mediated hypersensitivity reactions ranging from rhinitis and ocular symptoms to severe involvement of the lower respiratory tract including asthma with its life-threatening complications. Performing a hybridization screening of an excised A. alternata cDNA library with a radioactively labeled Cladosporium herbarum TCTP probe, we were able to identify, clone and purify the respective A. alternata homologue of TCTP which again represents a multifunctional protein that has been evolutionarily conserved from unicellular eukaryotes like yeasts to humans and appears, summarizing current literature, to be involved in housekeeping processes such as cell growth as well as cell-cycle progression, the protection of cells against various stress conditions including for instance apoptosis, and in higher organisms even in the allergic response. In this context, our present study characterizes recombinant A. alternata TCTP as a novel minor allergen candidate that displays a prevalence of IgE reactivity of approximately 4% and interestingly shares common, cross-reactive IgE epitopes with its C. herbarum and human counterparts as determined via Western blotting and in vitro inhibition approaches.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria.
authors.forename: Raphaela
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rid
authors.forename: Kamil
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Onder
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: MacDonald
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lang
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hawranek
authors.forename: Christof
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ebner
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hemmer
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Richter
authors.forename: Birgit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Simon-Nobbe
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Breitenbach
mesh_terms: D000485:Allergens / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D000528:Alternaria / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D000818:Animals; D000946:Antigens, Fungal / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D001483:Base Sequence; D002963:Cladosporium / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000276:immunology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D006255:Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D000090324:Tumor Protein, Translationally-Controlled 1
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens; D000946:Antigens, Fungal; D005656:Fungal Proteins; C000715647:TPT1 protein, human; D000090324:Tumor Protein, Translationally-Controlled 1; D007073:Immunoglobulin E