Cloning and IgE binding of a recombinant allergen from the mite Blomia tropicalis, homologous with fatty acid-binding proteins

To characterize the allergens of Blomia tropicalis, a cDNA library was constructed and screened with allergic sera from asthmatic patients. One clone, Bt6, was subcloned and sequenced. The nucleotide sequence of 934 bp length shows a 390-bp reading frame which encodes a 130-amino acid protein with a MW 14.8 kD. No potential glycosylation site was found in the predicted protein. The inferred amino acid sequence has no homology to known allergens. It has a cytosolic fatty acid-binding protein (FABP) signature at 5-22 amino acid residues, 42.3% identity with the Sml4-FABP of Schistosoma mansoni and 36% identity with FABPs from rat, mouse, bovine and human. The protein was expressed as a GST fusion protein and the purified GST-BtG used for dot blot, RAST and RAST inhibition assays. The frequency of IgE binding of allergic sera to Bt6 was low (11%) and usually weak. One positive serum did, however, show strong reactivity by RAST and dot blot and Bt6 could inhibit 60% of the IgE binding of this serum to the B. tropicalis extract. These data show that Bt6 encodes a mite FABP with allergenic properties, which are pronounced in some atopic subjects.