Purification and recombinant expression of major peanut allergen Ara h 1.

Reaction to peanut, as one of the major food allergens, has become an increasingly common life-threatening disorder. Although peanut allergens have been extensively identified, Ara h 1 is still too expensive to be applied in food safety or clinical utility. In this study, the purification, expression, and immunological analyses of Ara h 1 are investigated. It was shown that a high purity (>95%) of Ara h 1 could be prepared by either purification or expression. Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), Western blot, and mass spectroscopy were used to identify the Ara h 1, and it was found that natural Ara h 1 (nAra h 1) and expressed Ara h 1 (rAra h 1) have the same properties, including amino acid sequence. In particular, rAra h 1 reacted positively with anti-nAra h 1 serum, showing their similar immunological property. Thus, by either purification or expression, Ara h 1 could be prepared with low cost, as performed in the present work. SDS-PAGE, mag trix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectroscopy (MALDI-TOF MS), and immunological analysis confirmed that both forms of Ara h 1 had the same properties.