Identification of tropomyosins as major allergens in antarctic krill and mantis shrimp and their amino acid sequence characteristics.

Tropomyosin represents a major allergen of decapod crustaceans such as shrimps and crabs, and its highly conserved amino acid sequence (>90% identity) is a molecular basis of the immunoglobulin E (IgE) cross-reactivity among decapods. At present, however, little information is available about allergens in edible crustaceans other than decapods. In this study, the major allergen in two species of edible crustaceans, Antarctic krill Euphausia superba and mantis shrimp Oratosquilla oratoria that are taxonomically distinct from decapods, was demonstrated to be tropomyosin by IgE-immunoblotting using patient sera. The cross-reactivity of the tropomyosins from both species with decapod tropomyosins was also confirmed by inhibition IgE immunoblotting. Sequences of the tropomyosins from both species were determined by complementary deoxyribonucleic acid cloning. The mantis shrimp tropomyosin has high sequence identity (>90% identity) with decapod tropomyosins, especially with fast-type tropomyosins. On the other hand, the Antarctic krill tropomyosin is characterized by diverse alterations in region 13-42, the amino acid sequence of which is highly conserved for decapod tropomyosins, and hence, it shares somewhat lower sequence identity (82.4-89.8% identity) with decapod tropomyosins than the mantis shrimp tropomyosin. Quantification by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay revealed that Antarctic krill contains tropomyosin at almost the same level as decapods, suggesting that its allergenicity is equivalent to decapods. However, mantis shrimp was assumed to be substantially not allergenic because of the extremely low content of tropomyosin.