Abstract
Background: Phospholipases are enzymes with the capacity to hydrolyze membrane lipids and have been characterized in several allergenic sources, such as hymenoptera species. However, cross-reactivity among phospholipases allergens are little understood. The objective of this study was to determine potential antigenic regions involved in cross-reactivity among allergens of phospholipases using an in silico approach. Methods: In total, 18 amino acids sequences belonging to phospholipase family derived from species of the order hymenoptera were retrieved from the UniProt database to perform phylogenetic analysis to determine the closest molecular relationship. Multialignment was done to identify conserved regions and matched with antigenic regions predicted by ElliPro server. 3D models were obtained from modeling by homology and were used to locate cross-reactive antigenic regions. Results: Phylogenetic analysis showed that the 18 phospholipases split into four monophyletic clades (named here as A, B, C and D). Phospholipases from A clade shared an amino acid sequences' identity of 79%. Antigenic patches predicted by Ellipro were located in highly conserved regions, suggesting that they could be involved in cross-reactivity in this group (Ves v 1, Ves a 1 and Ves m 1). Conclusions: At this point, we advanced to the characterization of potential antigenic sites involved in cross-reactivity among phospholipases. Inhibition assays are needed to confirm our finding.
Highlights
Allergic diseases have become a public health problem; the genetic background of patients and the environmental conditions are considered the cause of the increased risk to develop allergic diseases[1]
The aim of this work was to explore cross-reactivity and antigenicity of allergenic PLA using an in silico approach, using bioinformatics tools, where we identified several antigenic regions that may be involved in cross-reactivity among phospholipases
Group B contains the highest number of phospholipases A2 phylogenetically related, including allergens of the Bombus and Apis genera (Bom p 1, Bom t 1, Api m 1, Api c 1) and two non-allergic phospholipases from Parasteatoda tepidariorum (Common house spider) and Centruroides hentzi (Hentz striped scorpion)
Summary
Allergic diseases have become a public health problem; the genetic background of patients (atopy) and the environmental conditions are considered the cause of the increased risk to develop allergic diseases[1]. Over the last few years, species belonging to the order Hymenoptera have been characterized as potential allergenic sources. Located more frequently in central and northern Europe, whereas the yellowjacket (YJ) (Vespula spp.) and honeybee (HB) (Apis mellifera) are allergenic sources in North America Other wasps such as Polistinae are found in southern Europe and America[2,3,4]. The objective of this study was to determine potential antigenic regions involved in cross-reactivity among allergens of phospholipases using an in silico approach. Methods: In total, 18 amino acids sequences belonging to phospholipase family derived from species of the order hymenoptera were retrieved from the UniProt database to perform phylogenetic analysis to determine the closest molecular relationship. Antigenic patches predicted by Ellipro were located in highly conserved regions, suggesting that they could be involved in cross-reactivity in this group (Ves v 1, Ves a 1 and Ves m 1).
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