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Nitration of β-Lactoglobulin but Not of Ovomucoid Enhances Anaphylactic Responses in Food Allergic Mice

  • S.C. Diesner
  • , C. Schultz
  • , C. Ackaert
  • , G.J. Oostingh
  • , A. Ondracek
  • , C. Stremnitzer
  • , J. Singer
  • , D. Heiden
  • , F. Roth-Walter
  • , J. Fazekas
  • , V.E. Assmann
  • , E. Jensen-Jarolim
  • , H. Stutz
  • , A. Duschl
  • , E. Untersmayr
  • Institute of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research, Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna
  • Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Medical University of Vienna
  • Department of Molecular Biology, University of Salzburg
  • Comparative Medicine, Messerli Research Institute of the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Medical University Vienna and University Vienna

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Background
We revealed in previous studies that nitration of food proteins reduces the risk of de novo sensitization in a murine food allergy model. In contrast, in situations with preformed specific IgE antibodies, in vitro experiments suggested an increased capacity of effector cell activation by nitrated food proteins.

Objective
The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of protein nitration on the effector phase of food allergy.

Design
BALB/c mice were immunized intraperitoneally (i.p.) with the milk allergen β-lactoglobulin (BLG) or the egg allergen ovomucoid (OVM), followed by intragastric (i.g.) gavages to induce a strong local inflammatory response and allergen-specific antibodies. Subsequently, naïve and allergic mice were intravenously (i.v.) challenged with untreated, sham-nitrated or nitrated BLG or OVM. Anaphylaxis was monitored by measuring core body temperature and determination of mouse mast cell protease-1 (mMCP-1) levels in blood.

Results
A significant drop of body temperature accompanied with significantly elevated concentrations of the anaphylaxis marker mMCP-1 were only observed in BLG allergic animals challenged with nitrated BLG and not in OVM allergic mice challenged with nitrated OVM. SDS-PAGE and circular dichroism analysis of the differentially modified allergens revealed an effect of nitration on the secondary protein structure exclusively for BLG together with enhanced protein aggregation.

Conclusion
Our data suggest that nitration affects differently the food allergens BLG and OVM. In the case of BLG, structural changes favored dimerization possibly explaining the increased anaphylactic reactivity in BLG allergic animals. © 2015 Diesner et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)e0126279
JournalPLoS ONE
Volume10
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2015

Keywords

  • antibody
  • beta lactoglobulin
  • chymase
  • ovomucoid
  • allergen
  • Ccl2 protein, mouse
  • lactoglobulin
  • monocyte chemotactic protein 1
  • nitrogen
  • anaphylaxis
  • animal cell
  • animal experiment
  • antibody response
  • Article
  • circular dichroism
  • controlled study
  • core temperature
  • cytokine production
  • female
  • food allergy
  • immunization
  • in vivo study
  • mouse
  • nitration
  • nonhuman
  • oligomerization
  • polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis
  • protein aggregation
  • protein secondary structure
  • animal
  • blood
  • body temperature
  • chemistry
  • disease model
  • drug effects
  • egg allergy
  • immunology
  • intraperitoneal drug administration
  • milk allergy
  • molecular model
  • procedures
  • Allergens
  • Anaphylaxis
  • Animals
  • Body Temperature
  • Chemokine CCL2
  • Circular Dichroism
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Egg Hypersensitivity
  • Immunization
  • Injections, Intraperitoneal
  • Lactoglobulins
  • Mice
  • Milk Hypersensitivity
  • Models, Molecular
  • Nitrogen
  • Ovomucin
  • Protein Structure, Secondary

Classification according to Österreichische Systematik der Wissenschaftszweige (ÖFOS 2012)

  • 303012 Health sciences

Applied Research Level (ARL)

  • Not applicable

Research focus/foci

  • Applied Health Innovation

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