Development of a Method for Crustacean Allergens Using Liquid Chromatography/Tandem Mass Spectrometry.

An LC/MS/MS analysis method was developed for crustacean allergens, tropomyosin, and arginine kinase. A protein extract from shrimp was reduced, alkylated, and digested by trypsin. Peptide spectra were obtained using full scan analysis by LC/MS/MS, and we determined a sequence through a protein search. 22ADTLEQQNK30, 92IQLLEEDLER101, 113LAEASQAADESER125, 134SLSDEER140, 153FLAEEADR160, and 190IVELEEELR198 of tropomyosin and 152VSSTLSSLEGELK164 and 217TFLVWVNEEDHLR229 of arginine kinase were selected as the specific peptides, and optimal multiple-reaction monitoring conditions were used. The results obtained through the LC/MS/MS analysis correlated well with those using the ELISA method for various crustacean samples (r2>0.9). Moreover, unregulated species, such as krill or insects, which produce positive results in some crustacean ELISA assays, can be differentiated by LC/MS/MS. These findings suggest that LC/MS/MS analysis may be effective for crustacean food allergen analysis.