Engineering of the major house dust mite allergen Der f 2 for allergen-specific immunotherapy

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Abstract
A major problem with allergen-specific immunotherapy involving repeated injection of allergens is the risk of an anaphylactic reaction. We engineered the major house dust mite allergen, Der f 2, to reduce its capacity to induce skin test reactivity and histamine release from peripheral blood basophils in allergic patients. The engineered allergen, in which the disulfide bond that linked the N- and C-terminal sequences of Der f 2 was disrupted, retained T-cell epitopes essential for immunotherapy and ability to stimulate T-cell proliferation. Such engineered allergens are potentially useful for safer and more effective immunotherapy for allergies.