Shellfish pan-allergen tropomyosin: an investigation into its actin binding behaviour

• Main Author: Ngiaw, Jia Xin
• Other Authors: Miao Yansong
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2023
• Subjects: Science::Biological sciences
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/166938
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Shellfish are commonly consumed worldwide, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, due to their palatability and nutritional value. However, shellfish allergy which is a Type I (IgE- mediated) hypersensitivity affects 0.5 to 2.5% of the world population and can cause life- threatening anaphylaxis. The major shellfish allergen is the heat-stable, coiled-coil protein tropomyosin (Tpm). As an actin-binding protein, the biochemistry of allergenic tropomyosin has been largely unexplored. In this study, we aim to gain some insights into the allergenic tropomyosin’s actin-binding behaviour. We successfully expressed and purified tropomyosin from two commonly consumed shellfish species, shrimp Lit v 1 and squid Tod p 1, as well as human Tpm 1.6 as a reference tropomyosin and analysed their actin-binding affinity. These two shellfish tropomyosins appear to have higher actin binding affinity than human tropomyosin, which sheds light on the fundamental biochemical difference between allergenic and non-allergenic tropomyosin.