Table 1.

Characterised allergens of Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus. Information is derived from the following allergen websites. www.allergen.org – the official site for the systematic allergen nomenclature approved by the World health organization and International Union of Immunological Societies. www.allergome.org – contains information on allergenic molecules causing allergic diseases. http://pfam.sanger.ac.uk. - protein classification database www.meduniwien.ac.at/allergens/allfam – database for classifying allergens into protein families.

Allergen	Biological Action	Mol Weight kDa	Allergenicity Reference	Functional Consequence
Der p 1	Cysteine protease (papain-like)	24	97	Disruption of tight junctions. Cytokine, chemokine & growth factor production. Eosinophil and mast cell degranulation. Fibroblast maturation & collagen production.
				Smooth muscle proliferation.
Der p 2	MD-2 related lipid recognition domain	15	98	Molecular mimicry of MD-2.
				Presents LPS to TLR4 resulting in activation of inflammatory genes
Der p 3	Trypsin (serine protease).	31	99	Disruption of tight junctions.
				Cytokine, chemokine & growth factor production. Eosinophil and mast cell degranulation. Fibroblast maturation & collagen production.
				Smooth muscle proliferation.
Der p 4	Alpha amylase	60	100
Der p 5	alpha-helical protein of unknown function found exclusively in mites moderately cross reactive with Der p 21	14		Thought to bind hydrophobic ligands resulting in stimulation of the innate immune system
Der p 6	Chymotrypsin (serine protease)	25	101	Disruption of tight junctions. Cytokine, chemokine & growth factor production. Eosinophil and mast cell degranulation. Fibroblast maturation & collagen production. Smooth muscle proliferation.
Der p 7	Binds lipopeptide polymyxin B Strucurally homologous to lipid binding proteins	26, 30 and 31	102	Does not specifically bind LPS but can be a ligand for other bacterial lipids. Structurally similar to LPS binding protein. Interaction with innate immune system.
Der p 8	Glutathione S-transferase	27	103
Der p 9	Collagenolytic serine protease	29	104	Disruption of tight junctions. Cytokine, chemokine & growth factor production. Eosinophil and mast cell degranulation. Fibroblast maturation & collagen production. Smooth muscle proliferation.
Der p 10	Tropomyosin	36	105
Der p 11	Paramyosin	103	106
Der p 12	Chitinase (lacks a catalytic domain)
Der p 13	Lipocalin Lipid transporter
Der p 14	Apolipophorin High molecular weight allergen found in lipid bodies and transport particles	177	49	IL-4 and IL-13 release from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of allergic donors
Der p 15	Chitinase
Der p 18	Chitinase
Der p 20	Arginine kinase		107
Der p 21	alpha-helical protein of unknown function found exclusively in mites moderately cross reactive with Der p 5
Der p 23	Unknown function, homology to peritrophin-A domain (PF01607)	14