title: Structure of the major carrot allergen Dau c 1.
abstract: Dau c 1 is a major allergen of carrot (Daucus carota) which displays IgE cross-reactivity with the homologous major birch-pollen allergen Bet v 1. The crystal structure of Dau c 1 has been determined to a resolution of 2.7 A, revealing tight dimers. The structure of Dau c 1 is similar to those of the major allergens from celery, Api g 1, and birch pollen, Bet v 1. Electron density has been observed in the hydrophobic cavity of each monomer and has been modelled with polyethylene glycol oligomers of varying length. Comparison of the surface topology and physicochemical properties of Dau c 1 and Bet v 1 revealed that they may have some, but not all, epitopes in common. This is in agreement with the observation that the majority of carrot-allergic patients have Bet v 1 cross-reactive IgE antibodies, whereas others have Dau c 1-specific IgE antibodies which do not recognize Bet v 1.
authors.affiliation: Core Program of Structural Biology and Biophysics, Biozentrum, University of Basel, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland. zora.housley@unibas.ch
authors.forename: Zora
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Marković-Housley
authors.forename: Arnaud
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Basle
authors.forename: Sivaraman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Padavattan
authors.forename: Bernhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Maderegger
authors.forename: Tilman
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schirmer
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hoffmann-Sommergruber
mesh_terms: D000485:Allergens / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000276:immunology; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D052179:Antigens, Plant / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000276:immunology; D000077102:Apium / Q000737:chemistry; D029662:Betula / Q000737:chemistry; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D018552:Daucus carota / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000276:immunology; D000939:Epitopes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000276:immunology; D011058:Pollen / Q000737:chemistry; D020836:Protein Structure, Quaternary; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D040681:Structural Homology, Protein
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens; D052179:Antigens, Plant; C096695:Api g 1 protein, Apium graveolens; C119925:Dau c 1 protein, Daucus carota; D000939:Epitopes; D010940:Plant Proteins