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. 1994 Jan;81(1):15–20.

Molecular basis of cross-reactivity among allergen-specific human T cells: T-cell receptor V alpha gene usage and epitope structure.

S S Mohapatra 1, S Mohapatra 1, M Yang 1, A A Ansari 1, P Parronchi 1, E Maggi 1, S Romagnani 1
PMCID: PMC1422271  PMID: 7510663

Abstract

Cross-reactivities between the major grass pollen allergens, at the level of T-cell recognition was examined employing several Lolium perenne I (Lol p I)-specific human T-cell clones. Nine of these Lol p I-specific T-cell clones exhibited cross-recognition of the recombinant Poa pratensis IX (Poa p IX) allergen, rKBG7.2, indicating that these two major antigens of a grass pollen share T-cell epitopes. Furthermore, proliferative responses of two other T-cell clones demonstrated that individual allergens of diverse grass pollens also possess common T-cell epitopes. Examination of the T-cell receptor (TcR) V alpha genes of these T-cell clones indicated that these cloned cells utilized distinct J alpha genes and that nine out of 10 clones possessed V alpha 13 gene. Furthermore, sequence comparisons of several allergenic molecules indicated that this cross-reactivity may be due to the presence of epitope(s) with structure(s) similar to the major T-cell epitope of Poa p IX allergens. Taken together, these results suggest for the first time that the major grass pollen allergens share cross-reacting T-cell epitope(s), and that this cross-reactivity is due to the structural homologies among allergens and restricted usage of TcR V alpha genes.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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