title: Impact of gluten-friendly™ technology on wheat kernel endosperm and gluten protein structure in seeds by light and electron microscopy.
abstract: The main aim of this paper was to assess the impact of Gluten-Friendly™ (GF) technology (Italian priority patent n° 102015000084813 filed on 17th December 2015) on wheat kernel endosperm morphology and gluten protein structure, using SEM, light and immunofluorescent microscopy. Microscopy was combined with immunodetection with specific antibodies for gliadins, γ-gliadins, LMW subunits and antigenic epitopes to gain a better understanding of the technology at a molecular level. The results showed significant changes to gluten proteins after GF treatment; cross-reactivity towards the antibodies recognizing almost the entire range of gluten proteins as well as the antigenic epitopes through the sequences QQSF, QQSY, PEQPFPQGC and QQPFP was significantly reduced. The present study confirms the results from our previous work and shows, for the first time, the mechanism by which a chemical-physical treatment abolishes the antigenic capacity of gluten.
authors.affiliation: Department of the Science of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Foggia, Via Napoli, 25, 71122 Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Landriscina
authors.affiliation: Department of the Science of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Foggia, Via Napoli, 25, 71122 Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: D'Agnello
authors.affiliation: Department of the Science of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Foggia, Via Napoli, 25, 71122 Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bevilacqua
authors.affiliation: Department of the Science of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Foggia, Via Napoli, 25, 71122 Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Corbo
authors.affiliation: Department of the Science of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Foggia, Via Napoli, 25, 71122 Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sinigaglia
authors.affiliation: Department of the Science of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Foggia, Via Napoli, 25, 71122 Foggia, Italy. Electronic address: carmela.lamacchia@unifg.it.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lamacchia
mesh_terms: D056625:Endosperm / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005983:Glutens / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000276:immunology; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D012639:Seeds / Q000737:chemistry; D014908:Triticum / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure
chemical_list: D005983:Glutens
keywords: Antigenic epitopes; Gluten-friendly; Immunofluorescent microscopy; SEM