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Research Article
Nature Biotechnology  15, 754 - 758 (1997)
doi:10.1038/nbt0897-754

Engineering of the major house dust mite allergen Der f 2 for allergen-specific immunotherapy

Toshiro Takai1, *, Toyokazu Yokota1, Masaaki Yasue1, Chiharu Nishiyama1, Toshifumi Yuuki1, Akio Mori2, Hirokazu Okudaira2 & Yasushi Okumura1

  1Biosience Research and Development Laboratory, Asahi Breweries, Ltd., 1-1-21 Midori, Moriya-cho, Kita-sohma-gun, Ibaraki 302-01, Japan.

  2Department of Medicine and Physical Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113, Japan.

  *e-mail: toshiro.takai@asahibeer.co.jp.

A major problem with allergen-specific immunotherapy involving repeated injections of allergens is the risk of an anaphylactic reaction. We engineered the major house dust mite allergen, Der f 2, to reduce its capacity to induce skin test reactivity and histamine release from peripheral blood basophils in allergic patients. The engineered allergen, in which the disulfide bond that linked the N- and C-terminal sequences of Der f 2 was disrupted, retained T-cell epitopes essential for immunotherapy and ability to stimulate T-cell proliferation. Such engineered allergens are potentially useful for safer and more effective immunotherapy for allergies.

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