Abstract
The relationship between air pollution and the allergenic capacity of pollen is widely accepted, with allergenicity being directly related to air pollution. To our knowledge, this is the first study comparing the differential expression of Lolium perenne pollen genes by RNAseq, in two wild populations with different levels of air pollution. The objective is to search for proteins that are expressed differentially in both situations and to establish a relationship with increased allergenic capacity. Two populations of L. perenne (Madrid and Ciudad Real) have been studied in two consecutive years, under the rationale that overexpressed genes in Madrid, with higher levels of NO2 and SO2, could be a cause for their greater allergenic capacity. Heat shock proteins (HSP), glycoside hydrolases, proteins with leucin-rich repeat motifs, and proteins with EF-HAND motifs were consistently overexpressed in Madrid pollen in the two years studied. Interestingly, some genes were overexpressed only in one of the years studied, such as pectinesterases in the first year, and lipid transfer proteins (LTPs) and thaumatin in the second. Despite the fact that the potential of all these proteins in relation to possible allergies has been reported, this is the first time they are cited as possible allergens of L. perenne. The results found can contribute decisively to the knowledge of the allergens of L. perenne and their relationship with atmospheric pollution, and to the development of much more effective vaccines.
Highlights
Most immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated allergies are caused by the plant’s allergens, which may cause different symptoms such as rhinoconjunctivitis, edema, urticarial, asthma, and anaphylaxis [1].Nowadays, the incidence of pollen allergy is undergoing a striking increase, with pollen allergens being the main cause among people with perennial allergic rhinitis [2,3]
To construct a transcriptome database, six mRNA libraries were generated in each collection moment (May 2017 and 2018) by Illumina sequencing, three from each population of L. perenne from
Some studies have shown the existence of an in situ allergic response in patients with negative skin prick test (SPT) results and undetectable IgE in the serum [24]. This clinical entity, known as local allergic rhinitis (LAR) [25], is considered a new phenotype of allergic rhinitis (AR) that must be differentiated from nonallergic rhinitis [26,27]. This misunderstanding could be related to several facts: (i) In most cases, pollen to which patients are exposed is not the same as that used in skin prick tests; (ii) the number of allergens involved in the allergic processes may be greater than what has been described so far; and (iii) probably some of the allergens are only expressed upon specific physiological conditions of plants and, among which is the degree of atmospheric pollution [12]
Summary
Most immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated allergies are caused by the plant’s allergens, which may cause different symptoms such as rhinoconjunctivitis, edema, urticarial, asthma, and anaphylaxis [1].Nowadays, the incidence of pollen allergy is undergoing a striking increase, with pollen allergens being the main cause among people with perennial allergic rhinitis [2,3]. The relationship between the allergenic capacity of pollen, the degree of air pollution, and the physiological status of the plant has been recently demonstrated [12], revealing that plants growing under a higher atmospheric pollution had a lower photosynthetic efficiency, with altered. ROS scavenging systems resulting in a greater degree of oxidative stress, higher H2 O2 concentration, and enhanced NADPH oxidase activity in pollen. These two factors (H2 O2 concentration and NADPH oxidase) are considered as very relevant in the increase of the allergenic capacity of pollen [12]
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