scholarly journals Molecular and immunological characterization and IgE epitope mapping of Pen n 18, a major allergen of Penicillium notatum

2002 ◽  
Vol 363 (3) ◽  
pp. 707-715 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chia-Jung YU ◽  
Yen-Ming CHEN ◽  
Song-Nan SU ◽  
Farhad FOROUHAR ◽  
Shu-Hua LEE ◽  
...  

The mould genus, Penicillium, is a significant source of environmental aero-allergens. A major allergen from Penicillium notatum, Pen n 18, was identified by two-dimensional immunoblotting using monoclonal antibody G11A10, raised against the vacuolar serine protease of Penicillium citrinum, followed by matrix-assisted laser-desorption ionization—time-of-flight MS analysis of the peptide digest. Pen n 18 was then cloned and the amino acid sequence deduced from the cDNA sequence. The cDNA encoded a 494 amino acid protein, considerably larger than mature Pen n 18, the differences being due to the N- and C-terminal prosequences. The deduced amino acid sequence showed extensive similarity with those of vacuolar serine proteases from various fungi. The Pen n 18 coding sequence was expressed in Escherichia coli as a His-tagged fusion protein and purified by Ni2+-chelate affinity chromatography. On immunoblots, the purified recombinant protein specifically bound IgE from mould-allergic patients, and cross-inhibition assays demonstrated the presence of common IgE-binding epitopes on Pen n 18 and a major allergen of P. citrinum, Pen c 18. When mapping of the allergenic epitopes was performed, at least nine different linear IgE-binding epitopes, located throughout the Pen n 18 protein, were identified. Of these, peptide C12, located in the N-terminal region of the molecule, was recognized by serum from 75% of the patients tested and therefore appears to be an immunodominant IgE-binding epitope.

1999 ◽  
Vol 341 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lu-Ping CHOW ◽  
Ning-Yuan SU ◽  
Chia-Jung YU ◽  
Bor-Luen CHIANG ◽  
Horng-Der SHEN

The mould genus, Penicillium, is known to be a significant source of environmental aero-allergens. One important allergen from Penicillium citrinum, Pen c 2, has been identified by means of two-dimensional immunoblotting using IgE-containing patients' sera. This novel allergen was cloned, sequenced and expressed in Escherichia coli. The cloned cDNA encodes a large 457-amino acid protein precursor containing a 16-amino acid signal peptide, a 120-amino acid propeptide and the 321-amino acid mature protein. Comparison of the Pen c 2 sequence with known protein sequences revealed shared high sequence similarities with two vacuolar serine proteases from Aspergillus niger and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Asp-46, His-78 and Ser-244 were found to constitute the catalytic triad of the 39-kDa Pen c 2. The DNA coding for Pen c 2 was cloned into vector PQE-30 and expressed in E. coli as a His-tag fusion protein that bound serum IgE from Penicillium-allergic patients on immunoblots. Recombinant Pen c 2 could therefore be used effectively for diagnosis and also potentially for the treatment of mould-derived allergic disorders.


2003 ◽  
Vol 69 (5) ◽  
pp. 2638-2650 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iwona Mruk ◽  
Tadeusz Kaczorowski

ABSTRACT The EcoVIII restriction-modification (R-M) system is carried by the Escherichia coli E1585-68 natural plasmid pEC156 (4,312 bp). The two genes were cloned and characterized. The G+C content of the EcoVIII R-M system is 36.1%, which is significantly lower than the average G+C content of either plasmid pEC156 (43.6%) or E. coli genomic DNA (50.8%). The difference suggests that there is a possibility that the EcoVIII R-M system was recently acquired by the genome. The 921-bp EcoVIII endonuclease (R · EcoVIII) gene (ecoVIIIR) encodes a 307-amino-acid protein with an M r of 35,554. The convergently oriented EcoVIII methyltransferase (M · EcoVIII) gene (ecoVIIIM) consists of 912 bp that code for a 304-amino-acid protein with an M r of 33,930. The exact positions of the start codon AUG were determined by protein microsequencing. Both enzymes recognize the specific palindromic sequence 5′-AAGCTT-3′. Preparations of EcoVIII R-M enzymes purified to homogeneity were characterized. R · EcoVIII acts as a dimer and cleaves a specific sequence between two adenine residues, leaving 4-nucleotide 5′ protruding ends. M · EcoVIII functions as a monomer and modifies the first adenine residue at the 5′ end of the specific sequence to N 6-methyladenine. These enzymes are thus functionally identical to the corresponding enzymes of the HindIII (Haemophilus influenzae Rd) and LlaCI (Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris W15) R-M systems. This finding is reflected by the levels of homology of M · EcoVIII with M · HindIII and M · LlaCI at the amino acid sequence level (50 and 62%, respectively) and by the presence of nine sequence motifs conserved among m6 N-adenine β-class methyltransferases. The deduced amino acid sequence of R · EcoVIII shows weak homology with its two isoschizomers, R · HindIII (26%) and R · LlaCI (17%). A catalytic sequence motif characteristic of restriction endonucleases was found in the primary structure of R · EcoVIII (D108X12DXK123), as well as in the primary structures of R · LlaCI and R · HindIII. Polyclonal antibodies raised against R · EcoVIII did not react with R · HindIII, while anti-M · EcoVIII antibodies cross-reacted with M · LlaCI but not with M · HindIII. R · EcoVIII requires Mg(II) ions for phosphodiester bond cleavage. We found that the same ions are strong inhibitors of the M · EcoVIII enzyme. The biological implications of this finding are discussed.


1999 ◽  
Vol 65 (12) ◽  
pp. 5546-5553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuhiro Iwashita ◽  
Tatsuya Nagahara ◽  
Hitoshi Kimura ◽  
Makoto Takano ◽  
Hitoshi Shimoi ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT We cloned the genomic DNA and cDNA of bglA, which encodes β-glucosidase in Aspergillus kawachii, based on a partial amino acid sequence of purified cell wall-bound β-glucosidase CB-1. The nucleotide sequence of the cloned bglA gene revealed a 2,933-bp open reading frame with six introns that encodes an 860-amino-acid protein. Based on the deduced amino acid sequence, we concluded that the bglA gene encodes cell wall-bound β-glucosidase CB-1. The amino acid sequence exhibited high levels of homology with the amino acid sequences of fungal β-glucosidases classified in subfamily B. We expressed the bglA cDNA inSaccharomyces cerevisiae and detected the recombinant β-glucosidase in the periplasm fraction of the recombinant yeast.A. kawachii can produce two extracellular β-glucosidases (EX-1 and EX-2) in addition to the cell wall-bound β-glucosidase.A. kawachii in which the bglA gene was disrupted produced none of the three β-glucosidases, as determined by enzyme assays and a Western blot analysis. Thus, we concluded that thebglA gene encodes both extracellular and cell wall-bound β-glucosidases in A. kawachii.


2005 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 857-862 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lina Liu ◽  
Shicui Zhang ◽  
Zhenhui Liu ◽  
Hongyan Li ◽  
Mei Liu ◽  
...  

The complete cDNA and deduced amino-acid sequences of ribosomal proteins L34 (AmphiL34) and S29 (AmphiS29) from the amphioxus Branchiostoma belcheri tsingtauense were identified in this study. The AmphiL34 cDNA is 435 nucleotides in length and encodes a 118 amino-acid protein with calculated molecular mass of 13.6 kDa. It shares 53.6-67.5% amino-acid sequence identity with its eukaryotic counterparts including human, mouse, rat, pig, frog, catfish, fruit fly, mosquito, armyworm, nematode and yeast. The AmphiS29 cDNA comprises 453 nucleotides and codes for a 56 amino-acid protein with a calculated molecular mass of 6.6 kDa. It shows 66.1-78.6% amino-acid sequence identity to eukaryotic S29 proteins from human, mouse, rat, pig, zebrafish, seahorse, fruit fly, nematode, sea hare and yeast. AmphiL34 contains a putative nucleolar localization signal, while AmphiS29 has a zinc finger-like domain. A phylogenetic tree deduced from the conserved sequences of AmphiL34 and AmphiS29 and other known counterparts indicates that the positions of AmphiL34/AmphiS29 are intermediate between the vertebrate and invertebrate L34/S29. Southern blot analysis demonstrates the presence of one copy of the L34 gene and 2-3 copies of the S29 gene in the genome of the amphioxus B. belcheri tsingtauense. This is in sharp contrast to the existence of 7-9 copies of the L34 gene and 14-17 copies of the S29 gene in the rat genome. These date suggest that housekeeping genes like AmphiL34 and AmphiS29 have undergone large-scale duplication in the chordate lineage.


2005 ◽  
Vol 187 (15) ◽  
pp. 5067-5074 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daisuke Kasai ◽  
Eiji Masai ◽  
Keisuke Miyauchi ◽  
Yoshihiro Katayama ◽  
Masao Fukuda

ABSTRACT Sphingomonas paucimobilis SYK-6 converts vanillate and syringate to protocatechuate (PCA) and 3-O-methylgallate (3MGA) in reactions with the tetrahydrofolate-dependent O-demethylases LigM and DesA, respectively. PCA is further degraded via the PCA 4,5-cleavage pathway, whereas 3MGA is metabolized via three distinct pathways in which PCA 4,5-dioxygenase (LigAB), 3MGA 3,4-dioxygenase (DesZ), and 3MGA O-demethylase (LigM) are involved. In the 3MGA O-demethylation pathway, LigM converts 3MGA to gallate, and the resulting gallate appears to be degraded by a dioxygenase other than LigAB or DesZ. Here, we isolated the gallate dioxygenase gene, desB, which encodes a 418-amino-acid protein with a molecular mass of 46,843 Da. The amino acid sequences of the N-terminal region (residues 1 to 285) and the C-terminal region (residues 286 to 418) of DesB exhibited ca. 40% and 27% identity with the sequences of the PCA 4,5-dioxygenase β and α subunits, respectively. DesB produced in Escherichia coli was purified and was estimated to be a homodimer (86 kDa). DesB specifically attacked gallate to generate 4-oxalomesaconate as the reaction product. The Km for gallate and the V max were determined to be 66.9 ± 9.3 μM and 42.7 ± 2.4 U/mg, respectively. On the basis of the analysis of various SYK-6 mutants lacking the genes involved in syringate degradation, we concluded that (i) all of the three-ring cleavage dioxygenases are involved in syringate catabolism, (ii) the pathway involving LigM and DesB plays an especially important role in the growth of SYK-6 on syringate, and (iii) DesB and LigAB are involved in gallate degradation.


2004 ◽  
Vol 133 (2) ◽  
pp. 136-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marja Kärkkäinen ◽  
Päivi Raunio ◽  
Jaakko Rautiainen ◽  
Seppo Auriola ◽  
Kaj Hinke ◽  
...  

2006 ◽  
Vol 398 (3) ◽  
pp. 531-538 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yukiko Mizutani ◽  
Akio Kihara ◽  
Yasuyuki Igarashi

The LASS (longevity assurance homologue) family members are highly conserved from yeasts to mammals. Five mouse and human LASS family members, namely LASS1, LASS2, LASS4, LASS5 and LASS6, have been identified and characterized. In the present study we cloned two transcriptional variants of hitherto-uncharacterized mouse LASS3 cDNA, which encode a 384-amino-acid protein (LASS3) and a 419-amino-acid protein (LASS3-long). In vivo, [3H]dihydrosphingosine labelling and electrospray-ionization MS revealed that overproduction of either LASS3 isoform results in increases in several ceramide species, with some preference toward those having middle- to long-chain-fatty acyl-CoAs. A similar substrate preference was observed in an in vitro (dihydro)ceramide synthase assay. These results indicate that LASS3 possesses (dihydro)ceramide synthesis activity with relatively broad substrate specificity. We also found that, except for a weak display in skin, LASS3 mRNA expression is limited almost solely to testis, implying that LASS3 plays an important role in this gland.


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