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In planta expression of a mature Der p 1 allergen isolated from an Italian strain of Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus

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Abstract

European (Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus) and American (Dermatophagoides farinae) house dust mite species are considered the most common causes of asthma and allergic symptoms worldwide. Der p 1 protein, one of the main allergens of D. pteronyssinus, is found in high concentration in mites faecal pellets, which can became easily airborne and, when inhaled, can cause perennial rhinitis and bronchial asthma. Here we report the isolation of the Der p 1 gene from an Italian strain of D. pteronyssinus and the PVX-mediated expression of its mature form (I-rDer p 1) in Nicotiana benthamiana plants. Human sera from characterized allergic patients were used for IgE binding inhibition assays to test the immunological reactivity of I-rDer p 1 produced in N. benthamiana plants. The binding properties of in planta produced I-rDer p 1 versus the IgE of patients sera were comparable to those obtained on Der p 1 preparation immobilized on a microarray. In this paper we provide a proof of concept for the production of an immunologically active form of Der p 1 using a plant viral vector. These results pave the way for the development of diagnostic allergy tests based on in planta produced allergens.

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Acknowledgments

We owe a big thank to Prof. Luca Santi and Luigi Russi for critical reading of this manuscript and helpful discussions. We are also very grateful to M. Castagnoli of CRA-ABP (Consiglio per la Ricerca e la Sperimentazione in Agricoltura, Centro di ricerca per l’agrobiologia e la pedologia, Florence, Italy) for providing HDM and to Prof. David Baulcombe (The Sainsbury Laboratory, Norwich, UK, www.pbltechnology.com) for kindly providing the pGR107 vector. This work was funded by Progetto PRIN 2005 “Transient expression of human proinsulin and of other therapeutics proteins in Nicotiana benthamiana” (EA) and PRIN 2006 “Production, purification and in vitro characterization of some italian-strain recombinant allergens of Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus” (FP).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Biologia Applicata, University of Perugia, Borgo XX Giugno 74, 06121, Perugia, Italy

    Gianpiero Marconi, Emidio Albertini, Lorenzo Raggi, Luigi Bolis & Mario Falcinelli

  2. IDI-IRCCS Center for Molecular Allergology, Rome, Italy

    Adriano Mari & Paola Palazzo

  3. Dipartimento Scienze Agronomiche e Genetica Vegetale Agraria, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy

    Andrea Porceddu

  4. Dipartimento Biologia Cellulare e Ambientale, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy

    Hovirag Lancioni, Antonella Palomba, Livia Lucentini, Luisa Lanfaloni & Fausto Panara

  5. Dipartimento di Specialità Chirurgiche e Sanità Pubblica, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy

    Francesco Marcucci

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  1. Gianpiero Marconi
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  2. Emidio Albertini
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  3. Adriano Mari
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Correspondence to Emidio Albertini.

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Gianpiero Marconi and Emidio Albertini have contributed equally to this work.

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Marconi, G., Albertini, E., Mari, A. et al. In planta expression of a mature Der p 1 allergen isolated from an Italian strain of Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus . Transgenic Res 21, 523–535 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11248-011-9551-5

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