Stabilization of the dimeric birch pollen allergen Bet v 1 impacts its immunological properties
Stefan Kofler, Chloé Ackaert, Martin Samonig, Claudia Asam, Peter Briza, Jutta Horejs-Hoeck, Chiara Cabrele, Fatima Ferreira, Albert Duschl, Christian Huber and Hans Brandstetter

Abstract:
Bet v 1, as many allergens, exhibits the capability to undergo oligomerization. In this study, we investigated a dimeric variant of Bet v 1 using X-ray crystallography and mass spectrometry. We found a non-canonical incorporation of Cysteine 5 instead of the genetically encoded Tyrosine, resulting in dimer stabilization via polysufide bridges. Characteristic immunologic properties of monomeric and dimeric allergen variants indicate the prevalence of the observed quarternary assemblies in unmodified Bet v 1.

The open access article can be found  here


Reviewed by Gerhard Obermeyer