Characterization of Four Major Allergens of Hen Egg-White by IEF/SDS-PAGE Combined with Electrophoretic Transfer and IgE-Immunoautoradiography

Abstract

The antigenic and allergenic epitope maps of the hen egg-white ovalbumin, ovomucoid, ovotransferrin and lysozyme were obtained using one-dimensional sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and two-dimensional sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis following isoelectric focusing. The isoelectric points of egg-white proteins were assigned by the isoelectric focusing technique. Two-dimensional electrophoresis following isoelectric focusing provided further information regarding epitope mapping. Furthermore, electrophoretic transfer of the proteins to nitrocellulose and subsequent immunoautoradiography, clearly demonstrated the allergenicity of these proteins. An important benefit of these methods was confirming that lysozyme bound strongly to IgE in all the human sera from egg-allergic individuals and that lysozyme, in addition to ovalbumin, ovomucoid and ovotransferrin, was one of the major allergens of hen egg-white.