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Comparative genomics of fungal allergens and epitopes shows widespread distribution of closely related allergen and epitope orthologues.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Allergy is a common debilitating and occasionally life threatening condition. The fungal kingdom contains a number of species that produce a wide range of well defined protein allergens although the vast majority of fungal species have unknown allergenic potential. The recent genome sequencing of a variety of fungi provides the opportunity to assess the occurrence of allergen orthologues across the fungal kingdom. Here we use comparative genomics to survey the occurrence of allergen orthologues in fungi. RESULTS: A database of 82 allergen sequences was compiled and used to search 22 fungal genomes. Additionally we were able to model allergen structure for representative members of several highly homologous allergen orthologue classes. We found that some allergen orthologue classes that had predicted structural congruence to allergens and allergen epitopes were ubiquitous in all fungi. Other allergen orthologues classes were less well conserved and may not possess conserved allergen epitope orthologues in all fungi. A final group of allergen orthologues, including the major allergens Asp f 1 and Alt a 1, appear to be present in only a limited number of species. CONCLUSION: These results imply that most fungi may possess proteins that have potential to be allergens or to cross react with allergens. This, together with the observation that important allergens such as Asp f 1 are limited to genera or species, has significant implications for understating fungal sensitization, and interpreting diagnosis and management of fungal allergy.

SUBMITTER: Bowyer P

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1613252 | biostudies-literature | 2006

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Comparative genomics of fungal allergens and epitopes shows widespread distribution of closely related allergen and epitope orthologues.

Bowyer Paul P Fraczek Marcin M Denning David W DW

BMC genomics 20061009

<h4>Background</h4>Allergy is a common debilitating and occasionally life threatening condition. The fungal kingdom contains a number of species that produce a wide range of well defined protein allergens although the vast majority of fungal species have unknown allergenic potential. The recent genome sequencing of a variety of fungi provides the opportunity to assess the occurrence of allergen orthologues across the fungal kingdom. Here we use comparative genomics to survey the occurrence of al ...[more]

PMID: 17029625

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Project description:BackgroundThe most striking feature of life is biodiversity. However, mechanisms of biodiversity remain poorly understood, as most protein orthologues of different species are highly homologous in sequence and identical in function. Interestingly, recent evidence has demonstrated heterogeneity for a G protein-coupled angiotensin II (Ang II) type 2 (AT(2)) receptor in both ligand binding and induction of arachidonic acid (AA) release. The present study investigated the properties of AT(2) receptors in closely related species.MethodsAT(2) receptors cloned from human, rabbit, rat, and mouse were expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells (CHO-K1), African green monkey kidney cells (COS-1), and human embryonic kidney (HEK)-293 cells and characterized in ligand binding and signal transductions. Critical residues in rabbit AT(2) receptor attributable to heterogeneity were examined using both gain-of-function and loss-of-function approaches with mutagenesis.ResultsThe newly cloned rabbit AT(2) receptor exhibits distinct biochemical and biologic properties compared to its highly homologous orthologues (91% in overall amino acid sequence) of rat, mouse, and human. All these orthologues activate SH2 domain-containing phosphatase-1 (SHP-1) and show similar binding affinities for Ang II and AT(2)-specific ligands CGP42112A and PD123319. However, reducing agent dithiothreitol (DTT) inactivates the rabbit orthologue but potentiates the others in ligand binding, a hallmark of AT(2) versus AT(1) receptor subtypes. Most interestingly, rabbit AT(2) receptor, but not the other orthologues, induces AA release in various cell systems when stimulated by both Ang II and CGP42112A, the peptide antagonist. Mutagenesis studies and sequence analyses further indicate that residues His(106), Asp(188), and Thr(293) are responsible for the DTT inactivation and residues Val(209) and Val(249) are partially responsible for AA release.ConclusionThese results deny the coexistence of an additional AT(2) subtype in rabbit proximal tubule cells and demonstrate for the first time the presence of functional diversity for closely related Eutherian orthologues of a G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) that are more than 90% homologous in the amino acid sequence.

Dataset Information

Comparative genomics of fungal allergens and epitopes shows widespread distribution of closely related allergen and epitope orthologues.

Publications

Comparative genomics of fungal allergens and epitopes shows widespread distribution of closely related allergen and epitope orthologues.

Similar Datasets

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