Identification of the major allergenic proteins from silkworm moth (Bombyx mori) involved in respiratory allergic diseases

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Moths are a significant source of indoor and outdoor aeroallergens. High prevalence of IgE-mediated sensitization was demonstrated in a group of patients with allergic respiratory diseases. There are no studies on adult stage of these moth species allergens involved in allergic respiratory reactions - the aim of this study. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 36 participants were included in an experimental study, submitted to skin prick test with Bombyx mori wing extract and six other common allergens, as well as Western blot analysis with incubated nitrocellulose membrane impregnated with silkworm moth extract and human IgE-antibody. The participants were divided into 3 groups: 1) 21 allergic patients whose skin prick test was positive to Bombyx mori wing extract, 2) eight allergic patients whose skin prick test was positive to mite and negative to Bombyx mori extract 3) seven negative non-allergic subjects. RESULTS: Among the 21 participants from group 1, 19 serum samples reacted to Bombyx mori extract by Western blot. All of them reacted to a protein at 80 kDa and five other proteins (66, 50, 45, 37 and 30 kDa) were identified in more than 50% of the individuals tested, considered as major allergenic proteins. Sera from seven out of eight patients sensitized to house dust mite demonstrated IgE-reactivity to Bombyx mori extract by Western blot analysis. Serum samples from healthy participants did not react at all. CONCLUSION: Six major reactive proteins by immunoblot analysis from moth’s wings sensitized patients can be potential allergens. The one at 80 kDa is the major protein, seen in all IgE-reactive patients from group 1 and in none from group 2, yet to be identified. Future studies should be conducted to better characterize these proteins

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Vinca drug components accumulate exclusively in leaf exudates of Madagascar periwinkle.

The monoterpenoid indole alkaloids (MIAs) of Madagascar periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus) continue to be the most important source of natural drugs in chemotherapy treatments for a range of human cancers. These anticancer drugs are derived from the coupling of catharanthine and vindoline to yield powerful dimeric MIAs that prevent cell division. However the precise mechanisms for their assembly within plants remain obscure. Here we report that the complex development-, environment-, organ-, and cell-specific controls involved in expression of MIA pathways are coupled to secretory mechanisms that keep catharanthine and vindoline separated from each other in living plants. Although the entire production of catharanthine and vindoline occurs in young developing leaves, catharanthine accumulates in leaf wax exudates of leaves, whereas vindoline is found within leaf cells. The spatial separation of these two MIAs provides a biological explanation for the low levels of dimeric anticancer drugs found in the plant that result in their high cost of commercial production. The ability of catharanthine to inhibit the growth of fungal zoospores at physiological concentrations found on the leaf surface of Catharanthus leaves, as well as its insect toxicity, provide an additional biological role for its secretion. We anticipate that this discovery will trigger a broad search for plants that secrete alkaloids, the biological mechanisms involved in their secretion to the plant surface, and the ecological roles played by them.