Abstract
Recently, prevalence of Japanese cedar pollinosis has been increasing, and it is observed highly in the Kanto area of Japan. As a cause of the high prevalence in Kanto area, we focused attention on 3-nitrotyrosines contained in allergen protein that cause the immune reactions and enhance an immunogenicity of allergen proteins. In this study, we measured the size distribution of airborne Cry j 1 concentrations and the relative quantities of airborne Cry j 1 containing 3-nitrotyrosine; and evaluated an apoptosis inducibility of 3-nitrotyrosine for HeLa cell.
Cry j 1 were highly observed as fine particles (≦1.1 µm) in the urban atmosphere of Saitama city, Japan. We succeeded for the first time in detecting Cry j 1 containing 3-nitrotyrosine in the urban atmosphere as the probable evidence of chemical modification of Cry j 1 by air pollutants. Cry j 1 that exists in the particle sizes smaller than 7.0 µm contained higher probabilities of 3-nitrotyrosine residues compared with Cry j 1 in the particle sizes larger than 7.0 µm. Moreover, we clarified that 3-nitrotyrosine induces HeLa cell (epidermoid cell) apoptosis.
From these results, it is suggested that further investigations are needed for the behavior and health effect of Cry j 1 and Cry j 1 containing 3-nitrotyrosine in respirable particles.
