Common IgE-epitopes of recombinant Phl p I, the major timothy grass pollen allergen and natural group I grass pollen isoallergens.

Grass pollen allergens are potent elicitors of Type I allergy. More than 95% of grass pollen allergic patients display IgE-cross-reactivity to group I grass pollen allergens of different grass species. A cDNA coding for the major timothy grass pollen allergen, Phl p I, was isolated previously. To investigate the presence of common IgE-epitopes among naturally occurring group I grass pollen isoallergens, Phl p I was expressed in Escherichia coli and used for IgE-absorption experiments. Recombinant Phl p I was able to inhibit IgE-binding to most of group I isoallergens from seven grass species as identified by two dimensional electrophoresis. When tested in competitive ELISA experiments, recombinant Phl p I bound a high percentage of grass pollen specific IgE. The results indicate that recombinant Phl p I shares many of the IgE-epitopes with natural group I grass pollen allergens and hence may represent a useful tool for specific diagnosis and therapy of grass pollen allergy.