Identification and characterization of important allergens from mugwort pollen by IEF, SDS-PAGE and immunoblotting

Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris L.) pollen allergens, separated by SDS-PAGE or IEF, were identified after transfer to NCM by incubation with a panel of sera from 16 patients with clinical mugwort pollen allergy, followed by [125I]anti-IgE and autoradiography. Of the at least 23 components separated by SDS-PAGE in a 15% polyacrylamide gel, at least 15 components with mol. wts 12,000-100,000 bound IgE from the panel of patient sera. A component of mol. wt 22,000 bound IgE from at least 94% of the patient sera tested and for all but three sera this component also bound the greatest quantity of IgE. Five other components with mol. wts 12,000, 17,000, 29,000, 39,000 and 42,000 bound IgE from 75-94% of the patient sera. After separation by IEF, at least 28 protein bands were detected in the pI region 3.5-7.2 and at least seven bands were found in the region 8.6-9.3. At least 11 bands in the pI range 4.2-7.3 and at least five bands in the pI region 8.5-9.2 bound IgE from the panel of patient sera. The most intense radiostaining was observed with a component having a pI of 4.35, which bound IgE from 31% of the patient sera. Immunoblotting of the SDS-PAGE and IEF gels using specific rabbit antisera and human sera against three important mugwort pollen allergens, denoted Ag 9, Ag 12 and Ag 13, was performed to determine the mol. wt and pI of these allergens which had earlier only been identified in CIE/CRIE. The results revealed that Ag 13 had a mol. wt of 61,000 and a pI of 4.35, Ag 12 had a mol. wt of 22,000 and AG 9 had pIs in the region 4.55-5.55 (six isoforms). Ag 9 did not bind IgE after SDS-PAGE and was thus not identified in the SDS-PAGE pattern, and Ag 12 failed to be detected in the NCM after transfer from IEF gels. By crossed immunoelectrofocusing, Ag 12 was found to consist of several isoforms predominantly located in the pI region 3.5-5.1. The immunoblotting analysis also revealed that the glycoprotein allergen Art v II was not detected after transfer from either SDS-PAGE or IEF gels. In conclusion, immunoblotting analysis of SDS-PAGE and IEF gels are useful methods for characterization of mugwort pollen extract, but it should be noted that some important allergens which are easily identified in CIE/CRIE may fail to be detected by these methods.