@article{
author = "Stanić-Vučinić, Dragana and Stojadinović, Marija and Mirkov, Ivana and Apostolović, Danijela and Burazer, Lidija and Atanasković-Marković, Marina and Kataranovski, Milena and Ćirković-Veličković, Tanja",
year = "2016",
abstract = "Modified allergens are a safer and more efficient alternative to natural allergens for specific immunotherapy. As the modification of an allergen can diminish its immunogenicity due to the alteration of T-cell epitopes, in this paper we study the effects of a reversible chemical modification of Art v 1, the main allergen of mugwort pollen, on its allergenicity and immunogenicity. Modification of Art v 1 by cis-aconitylation into a polyanionic derivative (CAA) did not result in any significant structural alteration. However, IgE-binding epitopes on CAA were blocked, resulting in a reduced IgE-binding and basophil activation. Both proteins induced proliferation of CD3(+)CD4(+) T-cells in mugwort-allergic patients, but only unmodified allergens increased IL-4, IL-5 and IL-10 production. Rabbit and mouse anti-CAA antibodies exhibited cross-reactivity with native allergens and blocked human IgE-binding to Art v 1. Degradation of CAA by lysosomal fraction enzymes resulted in a similar set of peptides, harboring MHC class II-binding peptides, as unmodified proteins. Thus, cis-aconitylation modified Art v 1 had a significantly reduced allergenicity, whereas its immunogenicity was completely preserved. Acid-environment-responsive modification, which releases a full repertoire of native allergen epitopes within a particular site, can be considered a smart drug delivery system, which is able to deliver a therapeutically-effective dose in a controlled manner, and minimizes adverse side effects.",
publisher = "Royal Soc Chemistry, Cambridge",
journal = "RSC Advances",
title = "Hypoallergenic acid-sensitive modification preserves major mugwort allergen fold and delivers full repertoire of MHC class II-binding peptides during endolysosomal degradation",
pages = "88228-88216",
number = "91",
volume = "6",
doi = "10.1039/c6ra17261j"
}