title: A new allergen from ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) with homology to art v 1 from mugwort.
abstract: Art v 1, the major pollen allergen of the composite plant mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) has been identified recently as a thionin-like protein with a bulky arabinogalactan-protein moiety. A close relative of mugwort, ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) is an important allergen source in North America, and, since 1990, ragweed has become a growing health concern in Europe as well. Weed pollen-sensitized patients demonstrated IgE reactivity to a ragweed pollen protein of apparently 29-31 kDa. This reaction could be inhibited by the mugwort allergen Art v 1. The purified ragweed pollen protein consisted of a 57-amino acid-long defensin-like domain with high homology to Art v 1 and a C-terminal proline-rich domain. This part contained hydroxyproline-linked arabinogalactan chains with one galactose and 5 to 20 and more alpha-arabinofuranosyl residues with some beta-arabinoses in terminal positions as revealed by high field NMR. The ragweed protein contained only small amounts of the single hydroxyproline-linked beta-arabinosyl residues, which form an important IgE binding determinant in Art v 1. cDNA clones for this protein were obtained from ragweed flowers. Immunological characterization revealed that the recombinant ragweed protein reacted with >30% of the weed pollen allergic patients. Therefore, this protein from ragweed pollen constitutes a novel important ragweed allergen and has been designated Amb a 4.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences (BOKU), 1190 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Renaud
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Léonard
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, Christian Doppler Laboratory for Allergy Diagnosis and Therapy, University of Salzburg, 5020 Salzburg, Austria.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wopfner
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences (BOKU), 1190 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pabst
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences (BOKU), 1190 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stadlmann
authors.affiliation: Carlsberg Laboratory, 2500 Valby, Denmark.
authors.forename: Bent O
authors.initials: BO
authors.lastname: Petersen
authors.affiliation: Carlsberg Laboratory, 2500 Valby, Denmark.
authors.forename: Jens Ø
authors.initials: JØ
authors.lastname: Duus
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, Christian Doppler Laboratory for Allergy Diagnosis and Therapy, University of Salzburg, 5020 Salzburg, Austria.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Himly
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathophysiology, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Radauer
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, Christian Doppler Laboratory for Allergy Diagnosis and Therapy, University of Salzburg, 5020 Salzburg, Austria.
authors.forename: Gabriele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gadermaier
authors.affiliation: VetOMICS, Core Facility for Research, University of Veterinary Medicine, 1220 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Ebrahim
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Razzazi-Fazeli
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, Christian Doppler Laboratory for Allergy Diagnosis and Therapy, University of Salzburg, 5020 Salzburg, Austria.
authors.forename: Fatima
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences (BOKU), 1190 Vienna, Austria. Electronic address: friedrich.altmann@boku.ac.at.
authors.forename: Friedrich
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Altmann
mesh_terms: D000485:Allergens / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification; D031164:Ambrosia / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D052179:Antigens, Plant; D019306:Artemisia / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005685:Galactans / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000276:immunology; D009656:North America / Q000453:epidemiology; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification; D011058:Pollen / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D006255:Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens; C552169:Amb a 4 protein, ragweed; D052179:Antigens, Plant; C102724:Art v 1 protein, mugwort; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D005685:Galactans; D010940:Plant Proteins; D007073:Immunoglobulin E; C005653:arabinogalactan