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Expression of allergenic protein and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the Platanus pollen grains collected from different area of Shanghai

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Abstract

As one of biological particles, pollen grains could be suspended in air and cause health risks such as pollinosis and rhinitis. Air pollutants can be absorbed on the pollen grains which would increase allergenicity. However, few studies have been focused on characterization of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), one kind of toxic pollutants absorbed on pollen grains, and their relationships with the allergenic proteins. In this study, fresh Platanus pollen samples were collected in the central parking area and the outer ring area of Shanghai in the spring of 2023. Mass concentration of allergenic protein (Pla a3) released from the samples collected at the two sampling sites were investigated by using western blot assay and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay, while mass levels of PAHs absorbed on the surface of flower inflorescence and pollen grains were measured by using GC-MS. Our data showed that the mass level of Pla a3 released from the pollen grains collected in the parking area was significantly higher than that collected in the outer ring area. Mass level of PAHs on the flower inflorescence and pollen grains in the parking area was 2 times higher than that in the outer ring area. The molecular docking results indicated that four disulfide bonds (Cys4-Cys52, Cys14-Cys29, Cys30-Cys75, Cys50-Cys89) in the Pla a3 protein structure could interact with the PAHs by hydrogen bonds. This interaction could increase the structural stability of the protein and enhance the allergenicity.

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded by the Science and Technology Committee of Shanghai (21DZ1202300)

Funding

This study was supported by the Science and Technology Committee of Shanghai (21DZ1202300).

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Author notes

  1. The authors Zhang Lu and Liu Jin have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai University, Add: No. 333, Nanchen Rd., Shanghai, 200444, China

    Lu Senlin, Zhang Lu & Liu Jin

  2. School of Life Sciences, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200444, China

    Zhou Shumin & Zhang Wei

  3. Centers for Environmental Science in Saitama, Saitama, 374-0115, Japan

    Shinichi Yonemoch

  4. Institute of Desert Meteorology, China Meteorological Administration, Urumqi, 83002, China

    Liu Xinchun

  5. School of Science and Engineering, Saitama University, Saitama, 338-8570, Japan

    Lin Yichun, Enyoh Christian Ebere, Wang Weiqian & Wang Qingyue

Authors
  1. Lu Senlin
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  2. Zhang Lu
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  3. Liu Jin
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  4. Zhou Shumin
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  5. Zhang Wei
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  7. Liu Xinchun
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  9. Enyoh Christian Ebere
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  10. Wang Weiqian
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  11. Wang Qingyue
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Contributions

LS designed the study, instructed all experiments. ZL drafted the manuscript. LJ and ZS were responsible for the experiments. LX analyzed the data of PAHs. ZW and SY provided instruction on chemical analysis. LY, ECE checked grammars and revised the manuscript. WW, WQ revised the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lu Senlin.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. On behalf of the all authors, Senlin Lu.

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Senlin, L., Lu, Z., Jin, L. et al. Expression of allergenic protein and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the Platanus pollen grains collected from different area of Shanghai. Aerobiologia (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10453-023-09805-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10453-023-09805-7

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