Structural highlights
Evolutionary Conservation Check, as determined by ConSurfDB. You may read the explanation of the method and the full data available from ConSurf. Publication Abstract from PubMedFire ant venom is an extremely potent allergy-inducing agent containing four major allergens, Sol i 1 to Sol i 4, which are the most frequent cause of hypersensitivity reactions to hymenoptera in the southern USA. The crystal structure of recombinant (Baculovirus) major fire ant allergen Sol i 3 has been determined to a resolution of 3.1 A by the method of molecular replacement. The secondary-structure elements of Sol i 3 are arranged in an alpha-beta-alpha sandwich fold consisting of a central antiparallel beta-sheet surrounded on both sides by alpha helices. The overall structure is very similar to that of the homologous wasp venom allergen Ves v 5 with major differences occurring in the solvent-exposed loop regions that contain amino acid insertions. Consequently, the limited conservation of surface chemical properties and topology between Sol i 3 and Ves v 5 may explain the observed lack of relevant cross-reactivity. It is concluded that Sol i 3 recognizes immunoglobulin E antibodies with a distinct set of its own epitopes, which are different from those of Ves v 5. Indeed, the molecular area in Sol i 3 covered by non-conserved residues is large enough to accommodate four unique Sol i 3 epitopes. Crystal structure of the major allergen from fire ant venom, Sol i 3.,Padavattan S, Schmidt M, Hoffman DR, Markovic-Housley Z J Mol Biol. 2008 Oct 31;383(1):178-85. Epub 2008 Aug 22. PMID:18761353[1] From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. References
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