IMMUNOCHEMICAL STUDIES OF STINGING INSECT VENOM ALLERGENS

Several major venom allergens from different insects of the Hymenopter a order have been cloned and sequenced by different laboratories. Thes e insects include fire ants, honey bees, hornets, yellowjackets and wa sps. These venom allergens have different biochemical functions, but h ave one feature in common, their varying extents of sequence identity with other proteins in our environment. Our studies in mice suggest th at recombinant fragments containing regions of sequence identity of ve nom allergen(s) and host protein(s) show antigenic cross-reactivity. T hese studies lead to the hypothesis that cross-reactivity of venom all ergens with host proteins promotes the immunogenicity of venom allerge ns in susceptible people. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd