Structural studies of a hornet venom allergen antigen 5, Dol m V and its sequence similarity with other proteins

The primary structures and the disulfide-bond pairings of two chromatographic forms A and B of a venom protein from white-faced hornet (Dolichovespula maculata) were determined. This protein, designated as antigen 5 (Dol m V), has 204-205 amino acid residues and it contains 4 disulfide bonds. This protein is an allergen in man but its biologic function in hornet is not yet known. Dol m V is found to have partial sequence similarity with pathogenesis-related proteins from tobacco and tomato leaves and with a sperm-coating protein from rat epididymis.