Isolation and identification of allergens and biogenic amines of Prosopis juliflora genotypes

Background: Prosopis, or mesquite (Prosopis juliflora (Sw.) DC.), was introduced in Saudi Arabia several decades ago and is heavily used in street, roadside, and park plantations. It shows great adaptation to the prevailing climatic conditions such as high temperature, severe drought, and salinity and spreads naturally in many parts of the Kingdom. This research was conducted to isolate allergen proteins and biogenic amines from the pollen grains of P. juliflora genotypes in Saudi Arabia from two regions, namely Al-Qassim and Eastern regions. Results: The results showed that 18 different allergen proteins were detected in P. juliflora genotypes, with molecular weight ranging from 14 to 97 kDa. Moreover, P. juliflora genotypes from the two studied regions contained eight biogenic amines, namely histamine, tyramine, tryptamine, ß-phenylethylamine, butricine, codapherine, spermidine, and spermine. All genotypes from the Al-Qassim region were found to contain all eight amines, while in the Eastern region, histamine was absent in three genotypes, spermine was absent in six genotypes, and spermidine was absent in three genotypes. Genotypes B23, E20, and E21 had the lowest biogenic amine quantity. Conclusions: All identified proteins from mesquite trees from both regions (Eastern and Al-Qassim) cause allergies in patients who are sensitive to pollen grains. Bioamines, except histamine and tyramine, were recorded at varying concentrations in different genotypes.

Purification, identification and characterization of the major allergen from Linnaeus / 中国免疫学杂志

Objective:To purify and characterize the major antigenic components of sand swimming crab,and provide theoretical evidences for the research of standardization of allergenic vaccine.Methods:The crude extract of Linnaeus was prepared using classical method, and electrophoresis of SDS-PAGE was used to separate the proteins of each group. The allergen proteins of 26 crab were identified using Western blot. To distinguish between the primary allergen proteins and secondary allergen proteins, FPLC(Gel Chromatography and ion exchange chromatography) was used to filtrate and identify the allergen protein.Results:SDS-PAGE analysis revealed that sand swimming crab proteins were composed of at lease 9 discrete protein bands, which molecular weight ranging from 13 000 to 90 000. Major bands were of 20 900, 24 200, 27 100, 29 200, 33 700, 38 900, 48 700, 74 700, 89 100 respectively. Western blot assay indicated that the crude extract reacted with sera obtained from 26 crab allergenic subjects and contained 5 allergen bands altogether, and the bands of 74 400 and 48 700 were the major allergenic components. The positive rates of the two major allergen proteins were both 100%, indicating the allergenic components maintained the immunocompetence after yielding from chromatography.Conclusion:The 74 400 and 48 700 bands are the major allergens of sand swimming crab. The major allergen proteins can be purified by chromatography.