Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 May 26;25(11):5800.
doi: 10.3390/ijms25115800.

Utilizing the Banana S-Adenosyl-L-Homocysteine Hydrolase Allergen to Identify Cross-Reactive IgE in Ryegrass-, Latex-, and Kiwifruit-Allergic Individuals

Affiliations

Utilizing the Banana S-Adenosyl-L-Homocysteine Hydrolase Allergen to Identify Cross-Reactive IgE in Ryegrass-, Latex-, and Kiwifruit-Allergic Individuals

Tatjana Đurašinović et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Food allergies mediated by specific IgE (sIgE) have a significant socioeconomic impact on society. Evaluating the IgE cross-reactivity between allergens from different allergen sources can enable the better management of these potentially life-threatening adverse reactions to food proteins and enhance food safety. A novel banana fruit allergen, S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine hydrolase (SAHH), has been recently identified and its recombinant homolog was heterologously overproduced in E. coli. In this study, we performed a search in the NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information) for SAHH homologs in ryegrass, latex, and kiwifruit, all of which are commonly associated with pollen-latex-fruit syndrome. In addition, Western immunoblot analysis was utilized to identify the cross-reactive IgE to banana SAHH in the sera of patients with a latex allergy, kiwifruit allergy, and ryegrass allergy. ClustalOmega analysis showed more than 92% amino acid sequence identity among the banana SAHH homologs in ryegrass, latex, and kiwifruit. In addition to five B-cell epitopes, in silico analysis predicted eleven T-cell epitopes in banana SAHH, seventeen in kiwifruit SAHH, twelve in ryegrass SAHH, and eight in latex SAHH, which were related to the seven-allele HLA reference set (HLA-DRB1*03:01, HLA-DRB1*07:01, HLA-DRB1*15:01, HLA-DRB3*01:01, HLA-DRB3*02:02, HLA-DRB4*01:01, HLA-DRB5*01:01). Four T-cell epitopes were identical in banana and kiwifruit SAHH (positions 328, 278, 142, 341), as well as banana and ryegrass SAHH (positions 278, 142, 96, and 341). All four SAHHs shared two T-cell epitopes (positions 278 and 341). In line with the high amino acid sequence identity and B-cell epitope homology among the analyzed proteins, the cross-reactive IgE to banana SAHH was detected in three of three latex-allergic patients, five of six ryegrass-allergic patients, and two of three kiwifruit-allergic patients. Although banana SAHH has only been studied in a small group of allergic individuals, it is a novel cross-reactive food allergen that should be considered when testing for pollen-latex-fruit syndrome.

Keywords: B-cell epitopes; S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine hydrolase (SAHH); T-cell epitopes; banana; cross-reactivity; kiwifruit; latex; panallergen; ryegrass.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Protein profiles of four allergen extracts obtained by SDS-PAGE (14% gel): (1) banana, (2) kiwifruit, (3) ryegrass, (4) latex, (5) rSAHH and Mw (molecular weight markers).
Figure 2
Figure 2
rSAHH purification from E. coli cell lysate was analyzed using SDS-PAGE: (1) cell lysate before addition of IPTG, (2) cell lysate after overnight expression of rSAHH, (3) rSAHH purified by IMAC, (Mw) molecular weight markers.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Mass spectrometry verified 98% of the recombinant banana SAHH’s amino acid sequence; peptides confirmed by MS are indicated in blue.
Figure 4
Figure 4
MSMS spectrum of the precursor m/z 1085.081 with y and b ions assigned by Mascot.
Figure 5
Figure 5
The molecular basis of SAHH IgE cross-reactivity: sequence alignment of SAHH allergens from banana, ryegrass, latex, and kiwifruit. Yellow boxes represent B-cell epitopes; conserved sequence (*), conservative mutations (:), semi-conservative mutations (.), and non-conservative mutations ( ).
Figure 6
Figure 6
In silico prediction of B-cell epitopes in SAHH 3D structure: (1) banana, (2) ryegrass, (3) latex, and (4) kiwifruit. B-cell epitopes are marked in yellow; differences in amino acid sequence are marked in blue.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Cross-reactive IgE was detected with banana rSAHH in sera from persons allergic to latex (No. 1–3), ryegrass (No. 4–9), and kiwifruit (No. 10–12); (C1) sera from person allergic to house dust mites; (C2) control of secondary antibody.

Similar articles

References

    1. Verhoeckx K., Lindholm Bøgh K., Constable A., Epstein M.M., Hoffmann Sommergruber K., Holzhauser T., Houben G., Kuehn A., Roggen E., O’Mahony L., et al. COST Action “ImpARAS”: What Have We Learnt to Improve Food Allergy Risk Assessment. A Summary of a 4 Year Networking Consortium. Clin. Transl. Allergy. 2020;10:13. doi: 10.1186/s13601-020-00318-x. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bright D.M., Stegall H.L., Slawson D.C. Food Allergies: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention. Am. Fam. Physician. 2023;108:159–165. - PubMed
    1. Parisi C.A.S., Kelly K.J., Ansotegui I.J., Gonzalez-Díaz S.N., Bilò M.B., Cardona V., Park H.S., Braschi M.C., Macias-Weinmann A., Piga M.A., et al. Update on Latex Allergy: New Insights into an Old Problem. World Allergy Organ. J. 2021;14:100569. doi: 10.1016/j.waojou.2021.100569. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Anto J.M., Bousquet J., Akdis M., Auffray C., Keil T., Momas I., Postma D.S., Valenta R., Wickman M., Cambon-Thomsen A., et al. Mechanisms of the Development of Allergy (MeDALL): Introducing Novel Concepts in Allergy Phenotypes. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 2017;139:388–399. doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2016.12.940. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Barre A., Pichereaux C., Simplicien M., Burlet-Schiltz O., Benoist H., Rougé P. A Proteomic- and Bioinformatic-Based Identification of Specific Allergens from Edible Insects: Probes for Future Detection as Food Ingredients. Foods. 2021;10:280. doi: 10.3390/foods10020280. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

MeSH terms