Identification of a shrimp-derived allergen as tRNA

During an attempt to isolate shrimp allergens, evidence was obtained that shrimp ribonucleic acid was capable of eliciting a specific IgE response in man and an experimental animal model system. The shrimp ribonucleic acid was extracted from boiled whole shrimp (Peneaus indicus), and was isolated by salt precipitation and sequential chromatography over DEAE-Sephacel and BioGel P-100. The allergenic material was identified as a ribonucleic acid based on the following criteria: a maximal absorption at 258 nm, failure to stain positively with Coomassie Brilliant Blue on slab gel electrophoresis, positive staining with ethidium bromide, co-migration with yeast tRNA on submerged gel electrophoresis in 1.5% Agarose M, and sensitivity to ribonuclease T2 and 0.3 M NaOH. Treatment with protease did not alter its allergenic activity. The RNA was capable of binding allergen-specific IgE in sera from two shrimp-sensitive patients, as demonstrated by microELISA and solid-phase radioimmunoassay (SPRIA) using antigen-coated nitrocellulose filter paper discs and purified 125I-labeled goat anti-human IgE. RNA isolated from shrimp by a conventional tRNA isolation procedure also had the ability to specifically bind IgE in the sera of shrimp-sensitive patients. IgE antibodies to shrimp RNA did not recognize yeast tRNA or salmon testes DNA, and were not detected in sera of other subjects. The shrimp-derived RNA was further able to induce a reaginic response in mice. A combination of in vitro aminoacylation of shrimp tRNA and SPRIA resulted in the identification of the allergenic tRNA as tRNA(Tyr) and tRNA(Arg). Thus, shrimp tRNA is capable of inducing a specific IgE response in man.