IMMUNODOMINANCE OF 7 REGIONS OF A MAJOR ALLERGEN, CRY-J-2, OF JAPANESE CEDAR POLLEN FOR T-CELL IMMUNITY

The immunodominant regions of the Japanese cedar pollen allergen Cry j 2 for T-cell immunity were determined with whole peripheral blood lym phocytes (PBL) derived from seven allergic patients and three nonaller gic subjects. Cry j 2-stimulated T-cell proliferation was inhibited by anti-HLA-DR, but not by anti-HLA-DQ antibody, indicating that the res ponding T cells recognized the allergen peptides associated with HLA-D R molecules. It was found that seven regions of Cry j 2, i.e., regions corresponding to amino acid numbers 1-26, 70-84, 151-167, 187-203, 25 2-279, 283-314, and 345-362, were immunodominant for T-cell proliferat ion. Thus, Cry j 2 bears a limited number of immunodominant regions de spite polymorphic features of HLA-DR in the immune system. This sugges ts the possibility of molecularly designing Cry j 2 antagonists that c ould downregulate allergic reactions to Japanese cedar pollen.