Chapman Martin D, Smith Alisa M, Vailes Lisa D, Pomés Anna
Asthma and Allergic Diseases Center, Department of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA.
Allergy Asthma Proc. 2002 Jan-Feb;23(1):5-8.
Many of the problems associated with using natural allergenic products for allergy diagnosis and treatment can be overcome using genetically engineered recombinant allergens. Over the past 10 years, the most important allergens from mites, pollens, animal dander, insects, and foods have been cloned, sequenced, and expressed. Allergens have diverse biological functions (they may be enzymes, enzyme inhibitors, lipocalins, or structural proteins). High-level expression systems have been developed to produce recombinant allergens in bacteria, yeast, or insect cells. Recombinant allergens show comparable immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibody binding to natural allergens and show excellent reactivity on skin testing and in in vitro diagnostic tests. Recombinant allergens will enable innovative new strategies for allergen immunotherapy to be developed. These include peptide-based vaccines, engineered hypoallergens with reduced reactivity for IgE antibodies, nucleotide-conjugated vaccines that promote Th1 responses, and the possibility of developing prophylactic allergen vaccines.
使用基因工程重组变应原可以克服与使用天然变应原产品进行过敏诊断和治疗相关的许多问题。在过去10年里，来自螨虫、花粉、动物皮屑、昆虫和食物的最重要变应原已被克隆、测序和表达。变应原具有多种生物学功能（它们可能是酶、酶抑制剂、脂质运载蛋白或结构蛋白）。已开发出高水平表达系统，用于在细菌、酵母或昆虫细胞中生产重组变应原。重组变应原显示出与天然变应原相当的免疫球蛋白E（IgE）抗体结合能力，并且在皮肤试验和体外诊断试验中表现出优异的反应性。重组变应原将使开发变应原免疫疗法的创新新策略成为可能。这些策略包括基于肽的疫苗、对IgE抗体反应性降低的工程化低变应原、促进Th1反应的核苷酸偶联疫苗，以及开发预防性变应原疫苗的可能性。
