The following is a summary of “Recombinant PreS-fusion protein vaccine for birch pollen and apple allergy,” published in the October 2023 issue of Allergy & Immunology by Khaitov, et al.
The pollen-food allergy syndrome arises from IgE cross-sensitization to the major birch pollen allergen Bet v 1 and pathogenesis-related (PR10) plant food allergens.
For a study, researchers developed a recombinant protein, AB-PreS, comprising non-allergenic peptides from the IgE-binding sites of Bet v 1 and the cross-reactive apple allergen Mal d 1, fused to the PreS domain of the HBV surface protein as an immunological carrier. AB-PreS was expressed in E. coli and purified by chromatography. Its allergenic and inflammatory activity was assessed using basophils and PBMCs from patients with birch pollen-allergic. The ability of antibodies induced by immunization with AB-PreS and birch pollen extract-based vaccines to patients with inhibit allergic IgE binding to Bet v 1 and Mal d 1 was evaluated using ELISA.
Experiments on IgE binding and basophil activation demonstrated the hypoallergenic nature of AB-PreS. AB-PreS induced lower T-cell activation and inflammatory cytokine production in cultured PBMCs from patients with allergy. IgG antibodies induced by five injections of AB-PreS patients with inhibited allergic IgE binding to Bet v 1 and Mal d 1 more effectively than did IgG induced by up to 30 injections of six licensed birch pollen allergen extract-based vaccines. Moreover, immunization with AB-PreS induced HBV-specific antibodies potentially confers protection against HBV infection.
The recombinant AB-PreS-based vaccine exhibited hypoallergenic properties and demonstrated superiority over currently registered allergen extract-based vaccines in inducing blocking antibodies to Bet v 1 and Mal d 1.