Joint International Research Laboratory of Metabolic & Developmental Sciences, University of Adelaide-Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Centre for Agriculture and Health, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, University of Adelaide, Waite Campus, Urrbrae, South Australia 5064, Australia.
School of BioMedical Sciences, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, South Brisbane, Queensland 4101, Australia.
Biotechnol Adv. 2017 Sep;35(5):545-556. doi: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2017.05.005. Epub 2017 May 20.
Allergic diseases are characterized by elevated allergen-specific IgE and excessive inflammatory cell responses. Among the reported plant allergens, grass pollen and grain allergens, derived from agriculturally important members of the Poaceae family such as rice, wheat and barley, are the most dominant and difficult to prevent. Although many allergen homologs have been predicted from species such as wheat and timothy grass, fundamental aspects such as the evolution and function of plant pollen allergens remain largely unclear. With the development of genetic engineering and genomics, more primary sequences, functions and structures of plant allergens have been uncovered, and molecular component-based allergen-specific immunotherapies are being developed. In this review, we aim to provide an update on (i) the distribution and importance of pollen and grain allergens of the Poaceae family, (ii) the origin and evolution, and functional aspects of plant pollen allergens, (iii) developments of allergen-specific immunotherapy for pollen allergy using biotechnology and (iv) development of less allergenic plants using gene engineering techniques. We also discuss future trends in revealing fundamental aspects of grass pollen allergens and possible biotechnological approaches to reduce the amount of pollen allergens in grasses.
变应性疾病的特征是过敏原特异性 IgE 升高和过度炎症细胞反应。在已报道的植物过敏原中，草花粉和谷物过敏原来自于禾本科中如水稻、小麦和大麦等农业上重要的成员，是最主要和难以预防的过敏原。尽管已经从小麦和猫尾草等物种中预测了许多过敏原同源物，但植物花粉过敏原的进化和功能等基本方面在很大程度上仍不清楚。随着基因工程和基因组学的发展，更多的植物过敏原的一级序列、功能和结构被揭示出来，并且正在开发基于分子成分的过敏原特异性免疫疗法。在这篇综述中，我们旨在提供（i）禾本科花粉和谷物过敏原的分布和重要性，（ii）植物花粉过敏原的起源和进化以及功能方面，（iii）使用生物技术进行花粉过敏的过敏原特异性免疫疗法的发展，以及（iv）使用基因工程技术开发低过敏原性植物的最新进展。我们还讨论了揭示草花粉过敏原基本方面的未来趋势以及减少草中花粉过敏原含量的可能生物技术方法。
