SEQUENCE IDENTITY AND ANTIGENIC CROSS-REACTIVITY OF WHITE FACE HORNETVENOM ALLERGEN, ALSO A HYALURONIDASE, WITH OTHER PROTEINS

White face hornet (Dolichovespula maculata) venom has three known prot ein allergens which induce IgE response in susceptible people, They ar e antigen 5, phospholipase A(1), and hyaluronidase, also known as Dol m 5, 1, and 2, respectively, We have cloned Dol m 2, a protein of 331 residues, When expressed in bacteria, a mixture of recombinant Dol m 2 and its fragments was obtained, The fragments were apparently generat ed by proteolysis of a Met-Met bond at residue 122, as they were not o bserved for a Dol m 2 mutant with a Leu-Met bond. Dol m 2 has 56% sequ ence identity with the honey bee venom allergen hyaluronidase and 27% identity with PH-20, a human sperm protein with hyaluronidase activity , A common feature of hornet venom allergens is their sequence identit y with other proteins in our environment, We showed previously the seq uence identity of Dol m 5 with a plant protein and a mammalian testis protein and of Dol m 1 with mammalian lipases. In BALB/c mice, Dol m 2 and bee hyaluronidase showed cross-reactivity at both antibody and T cell levels, These findings are relevant to some patients' multiple se nsitivity to hornet and bee stings.