Proteome and allergenome of the European house dust mite Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus

PLoS One. 2019 May 1;14(5):e0216171. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0216171. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

The European house dust mite Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus is of significant medical importance as it is a major elicitor of allergic illnesses. In this analysis we have undertaken comprehensive bioinformatic and proteomic examination of Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus airmid, identified 12,530 predicted proteins and validated the expression of 4,002 proteins. Examination of homology between predicted proteins and allergens from other species revealed as much as 2.6% of the D. pteronyssinus airmid proteins may cause an allergenic response. Many of the potential allergens have evidence for expression (n = 259) and excretion (n = 161) making them interesting targets for future allergen studies. Comparative proteomic analysis of mite body and spent growth medium facilitated qualitative assessment of mite group allergen localisation. Protein extracts from house dust contain a substantial number of uncharacterised D. pteronyssinus proteins in addition to known and putative allergens. Novel D. pteronyssinus proteins were identified to be highly abundant both in house dust and laboratory cultures and included numerous carbohydrate active enzymes that may be involved in cuticle remodelling, bacteriophagy or mycophagy. These data may have clinical applications in the development of allergen-specific immunotherapy that mimic natural exposure. Using a phylogenomic approach utilising a supermatrix and supertree methodologies we also show that D. pteronyssinus is more closely related to Euroglyphus maynei than Dermatophagoides farinae.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Allergens / immunology*
  • Allergens / metabolism
  • Animals
  • Antigens, Dermatophagoides / immunology
  • Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus / genetics*
  • Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus / immunology*
  • Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus / metabolism
  • Desensitization, Immunologic
  • Hypersensitivity
  • Proteome / metabolism
  • Proteomics / methods
  • Pyroglyphidae / immunology
  • Vaccines

Substances

  • Allergens
  • Antigens, Dermatophagoides
  • Proteome
  • Vaccines

Grants and funding

RW is a recipient of an Irish Research Council Enterprise Partnership Scheme Scholar (EPSPG/2014/64). CGPM is funded by an Irish Research Council Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship (Grant No. GOIPG/2015/2242). JM is funded by a postgraduate scholarship from the Irish Research Council, Government of Ireland (grant number GOIPG/2016/1112). Mass spectrometry facilities were funded by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI 12/RI/2346(3)). We acknowledge the DJEI/DES/SFI/HEA Irish Centre for High-End Computing (ICHEC) for the provision of computational facilities and support. EBM and NG are employees of Airmid Healthgroup Ltd. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.