title: Mining Novel Allergens from Coconut Pollen Employing Manual De Novo Sequencing and Homology-Driven Proteomics.
abstract: Coconut pollen, one of the major palm pollen grains is an important constituent among vectors of inhalant allergens in India and a major sensitizer for respiratory allergy in susceptible patients. To gain insight into its allergenic components, pollen proteins were analyzed by two-dimensional electrophoresis, immunoblotted with coconut pollen sensitive patient sera, followed by mass spectrometry of IgE reactive proteins. Coconut being largely unsequenced, a proteomic workflow has been devised that combines the conventional database-dependent analysis of tandem mass spectral data and manual de novo sequencing followed by a homology-based search for identifying the allergenic proteins. N-terminal acetylation helped to distinguish "b" ions from others, facilitating reliable sequencing. This led to the identification of 12 allergenic proteins. Cluster analysis with individual patient sera recognized vicilin-like protein as a major allergen, which was purified to assess its in vitro allergenicity and then partially sequenced. Other IgE-sensitive spots showed significant homology with well-known allergenic proteins such as 11S globulin, enolase, and isoflavone reductase along with a few which are reported as novel allergens. The allergens identified can be used as potential candidates to develop hypoallergenic vaccines, to design specific immunotherapy trials, and to enrich the repertoire of existing IgE reactive proteins.
authors.affiliation: Division of Plant Biology, Bose Institute , 93/1 Acharya Prafulla Chandra Road, Kolkata 700009, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Bodhisattwa
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Saha
authors.affiliation: Division of Plant Biology, Bose Institute , 93/1 Acharya Prafulla Chandra Road, Kolkata 700009, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Gaurab
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sircar
authors.affiliation: Department of Allergy and Asthma, Belle View Clinic , 9, Dr U.N. Brahmachari Street, Kolkata 700017, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Naren
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pandey
authors.affiliation: Division of Plant Biology, Bose Institute , 93/1 Acharya Prafulla Chandra Road, Kolkata 700009, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Swati
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gupta Bhattacharya
mesh_terms: D000107:Acetylation; D000485:Allergens / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003059:Cocos / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000502:physiology; D057225:Data Mining / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015180:Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional; D005916:Globulins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D007106:Immune Sera / Q000737:chemistry; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000737:chemistry; D058977:Molecular Sequence Annotation; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D044925:Oxidoreductases Acting on CH-CH Group Donors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010751:Phosphopyruvate Hydratase / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D011058:Pollen / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D012130:Respiratory Hypersensitivity / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D055314:Seed Storage Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D020539:Sequence Analysis, Protein; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens; D005916:Globulins; D007106:Immune Sera; D010940:Plant Proteins; D055314:Seed Storage Proteins; D007073:Immunoglobulin E; C015575:vicilin protein, plant; C071072:vestitone reductase; D044925:Oxidoreductases Acting on CH-CH Group Donors; D010751:Phosphopyruvate Hydratase
keywords: 2D gel electrophoresis; MALDI; MS BLAST; de novo sequencing; pollen allergens; vicilin