Allergenicity of Hev b 13, a major esterase allergen in natural rubber latex (Hevea brasiliensis) allergy, does not only depend on its carbohydrate moiety

The three-dimensional model built for the major latex allergen Hev b 13 consists of the typical organization of plant esterases made of a central bundle of five parallel beta-strands surrounded by five alpha-helices associated to two shorter alpha-helical segments. Up to 12 sets of sequential IgE-binding peptides were identified in SPOT experiments along the amino acid sequence of Hev b 13. They correspond in fact to eight IgE-binding epitopic stretches exposed on the surface of the allergen. With the exception of epitope #5, all other epitopes contain charged residues. Epitope #8 contains the 3rd putative N-glycosylation site of Hev b 13 and should consist of a glycotope, whereas all other identified IgE-binding areas occur outside the two remaining putative N-glycosylation sites. Accordingly, the allergenicity of Hev b 13 does not primarily depends on its carbohydrate moiety.