Main allergens in European hornet (<em>Vespa crabo</em> Linnaeus, 1758 ) and Asian hornet (<em>Vespa velutina </em>Lepetelier, 1836): a comparative study of their structural properties

Abstract

The yellow-legged Asian hornet, (Vespa velutina Lepetelier, 1836), native to Southeast Asia, India, and China, was accidentally introduced into South Korea in 2003 and France in 2004. The spread of this invasive hornet throughout Europe has been very rapid, resulting in frequent stinging incidents. Various studies have been carried out on the nature of the protein components of the Vespidae venom. It has been found that the allergens of Vespa velutina (VV), the European hornet (VC, Vespa crabo Linnaeus, 1758) and the common wasp (Vespula spp) have a high similarity in their main proteins.The structures generated by homology-modelling for the antigen 5 (Vesp v 5) from Asian hornet together with the obtained for phospholipase A1 (Vesp c 1) and for the antigen 5 (Vesp c 5) from European hornet were studied using APBS (Adaptive Poisson-Boltzmann Solver), a continuum solvation method. The results obtained, along with other parameters calculated such as: LogP, VLogP, Molecular Lipophilicity Potential, among others, not only allow to check the high degree of similarity among these proteins but also to study the differences that make possible the analysis of their epitopes. The obtained information could be useful in the characterization of Hymenoptera venom allergy (HVA) as well as for specific immunotherapy, since knowledge of the structure of allergens is essential for the precise diagnosis and treatment of HVA.