Cloning, Expression, and Identification of Immunological Activity of an Allergenic Protein in Tartary Buckwheat

Buckwheat allergy: a potential problem in 21st century Britain

“…In-vitro cross-sensitivity between common buckwheat and other plant allergens has been demonstrated. Specific IgE to common buckwheat cross-reacts with tartary buckwheat (commonly grown and consumed in China),24 25 rice,26 poppy seed,27 latex,5 cashew, walnut and sesame 23. Clinical cross-reactivity with latex was noted in two latex allergic patients who had severe buckwheat reactions 5.…”

Molecular cloning and characterization of Fag t 2: a 16-kDa major allergen from Tartary buckwheat seeds

“…1B) were able to react with two positive sera from the patients allergic to buckwheat, but not with the control serum. Competitive ELISA (4) (Table 1) revealed a similar inhibitory efficiency of rFag t 2 and nFag t 2, suggesting that they both had the same specific IgE‐binding activity. In ELISA tests, after being heated at 100°C for 150 min, rFag t 2 and crude nFag t 2 had 93.4% and 95.1% IgE‐binding capacity, respectively, when compared with that in no‐heated Fag t 2 control samples (data not shown).In addition, pepsin digestion tests demonstrated that both the TB nFag t 2 and rFag t 2 were resistant to digestion (data not shown).…”

Emerging Allergens and the Future

“…In particular, proteins of 8 -10 kDa [121,122] ; 14, 16, and 18 kDa [123 -126] , and 19 kDa [127,128] have been reported. Wang et al [132,133] also purifi ed and identifi ed a 24 -kDa protein from tartary buckwheat as a major allergen with strong IgE -binding activity in buckwheat -allergic patients and thermostable under heating for 20 minutes at 100 ° C. Several other protein fractions with molecular masses of 34 -38 and 69 -70 kDa have shown IgE -binding activity. The 16 -to 19 -kDa allergens seem to be related to the α -amylase/trypsin inhibitor family (including 2S albumins).…”