HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Bohle, B. Articles by Ebner, C. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Bohle, B. Articles by Ebner, C.

Characterization of T Cell Responses to Hev b 3, an Allergen Associated with Latex Allergy in Spina Bifida Patients¹

Barbara Bohle^*, Birgit Wagner^*, Ute Vollmann^*, Dietke Buck^§, Bodo Niggemann^§, Zsolt Szépfalusi, Gottfried Fischer, Otto Scheiner^*, Heimo Breiteneder^* and Christof Ebner^2,*

Departments of ^* General and Experimental Pathology, Pediatrics, and Blood Group Serology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; and ^§ Children’s Hospital, Virchow Clinic, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany

The prevalence of type I allergy to Hevea brasiliensis latex is particularly high among individuals with frequent exposure such as health care workers and patients with spina bifida (SB). Due to a birth defect of the spinal canal and the resulting neurological and orthopedic defects, these patients require multiple surgeries during childhood. SB patients display a unique pattern of sensitization: IgE-reactivity is preferentially directed against Hev b 3 and Hev b 1, two latex allergens with high sequence similarity. In this study, we analyzed the T cell response to Hev b 3 in latex-allergic SB patients using poly-, oligo-, and monoclonal T lymphocyte cultures. All T cell clones (TCC) were CD3/CD4-positive and expressed the ß TCR. According to their cytokine production pattern (IL-4 vs IFN-), 12 of 21 TCC were classified as Th2-like, 2 of 21 were Th1-like, and 7 of 21 belonged to a Th0-like subset. Using 11 T cell lines and 21 TCC, nine T cell stimulating fragments were determined out of 52 overlapping 12-mer peptides representing the complete amino acid sequence of Hev b 3. Ag presentation of one dominant T cell epitope could be associated with a four-amino acid binding motif (YSTS, position 11–13) in the ß1 chain of HLA-DR molecules expressed by the respective patients. No reactivity was observed when Hev b 3-reactive T cell lines or TCC were incubated with peptides representing homologous parts of the Hev b 1 molecule, i.e., no cross-reactivity between Hev b 3 and Hev b 1 at the T cell level was evident.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C. A. Herrick, L. Xu, A. N. J. McKenzie, R. E. Tigelaar, and K. Bottomly IL-13 Is Necessary, Not Simply Sufficient, for Epicutaneously Induced Th2 Responses to Soluble Protein Antigen J. Immunol., March 1, 2003; 170(5): 2488 - 2495. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				B. Bohle, L. Orel, D. Kraft, and C. Ebner Oligodeoxynucleotides Containing CpG Motifs Induce Low Levels of TNF-{{alpha}} in Human B Lymphocytes: Possible Adjuvants for Th1 Responses J. Immunol., March 15, 2001; 166(6): 3743 - 3748. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]