Research of the Protein Profile and Allergenic Properties of the Tropomyosin and Other Allergenic Components in the Composition of Water-Salt Extract of Giant Tiger Shrimp (Penaeus monodon)

Despite the success in identifying new crustacean allergens other than tropomyosin, many potential allergens remain unidentified. At present there are no diagnostic and treatment crustaceans allergens on the Russian market, including tropomyosin of invertebrates. The aim of the research was to explore allergenic properties of tropomyosin and other proteins in water-salt extract from tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon). Raw and boiled meat of giant tiger shrimp was used to prepare allergenic extracts. To identify the specific activity of experimental allergens, sera from patients allergic to crustaceans with an established degree of activity (class 3) were used. The levels of specific IgE were from 3.5 to 17.5 IU/mL. ELISA was performed with the allergen samples. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of raw and boiled shrimp allergen preparations was followed by Western blotting with the most allergen-specific serum. It has been shown that the extracts from raw and boiled shrimp have allergenic activity (bind IgE). The heat treatment of shrimp had no effect on allergenic activity except for one sample, where a strong reaction with the antigens was found. It is proved that the selected extraction conditions make it possible to reveal the multifractional nature of the protein profile of raw and boiled shrimp extracts. In Western blotting experiments the raw shrimp extract showed a weak reaction; tropomyosin was not detected. At the same time five protein fractions were identified in the boiled shrimp samples which reacted with IgE antibodies of a patient with crustaceans’ allergy. The data obtained will allow us expanding the knowledge about crustacean allergy and continueing our research to determine the optimal conditions for cleaning shrimp allergens.