An in silico approach on the allergenicity and cross reactivity of the tropomyosin epitope of Oreochromis mossambicus

• Main Authors: Endozo, Rikki Noreen S., Kim, Abby Gayl A., San Jose, Juan Miguel
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2022
• Subjects: Mozambique tilapia; Tropomyosins; Physics
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etdb_physics/17; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etdb_physics/article/1019/viewcontent/2022_SanJose_Endozo_Kim_An_in_silico_approach_on_the_allergenicity_Full_text.pdf
• Institution: De La Salle University

Analysis of the allergenicity and cross-reactivity of the tropomyosin epitope of Oreochromis mossambicus, also known as tilapia, was done via an in silico approach. Structural validation of Immunoglobulin E through Ramachandran Plot, ERRAT, and Verify 3D showed relatively high values, suggesting that the chosen protein for docking is a high-quality model. Intermolecular forces of attraction present in the IgE-Tropomyosin, viewed via BIOVIA Discovery Studio Visualizer, were mostly hydrogen bonds, electrostatic interactions, and hydrophobic interactions. Molecular Dynamics simulation performed through CABS-FLEX 2.0 demonstrates that no significant difference exists between the bound and unbound structures of the IgE-Tropomyosin complex. Only minor fluctuations were observable in the Root Mean Square Fluctuation plots of chains A and B, having p-values of 0.38 and 0.15, respectively. These results depict that the complex is stable enough for a strong binding. The tropomyosin epitope of tilapia had three identified allergenic sequences, and findings indicate that the following species, common in the Philippines, have 100 percent similarity with all three protein sequences: mud crab, giant tiger prawn, blue swimming crab, Atlantic white shrimp, brown shrimp, and white leg shrimp. Other species, such as three spot swimming crab, Crucifix crab, and giant freshwater prawn can also be found in the Philippines but are not considered common, based on the PSA data from 2017 to 2019. The stated species are suggestive of being cross-reactive with the tropomyosin of Oreochromis mossambicus, meaning it is highly probable that a person allergic to tilapia could also be allergic to the listed species of seafood.