[In silico analysis of Cit s 2: A highly conserved profilin].

Objective: Analyze phylogenetic relationships and molecular mimicry of Cit s 2 and other plant profilins.

Methods: Online bioinformatics tools including Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLASTP), PRALINE and MEGA were used for multiple alignments and phylogenetic analysis. A 3D-homology model of Cit s 2 was predicted. Models were calculated with MODELLER. The best model was selected with the model scoring option of MAESTRO. Conserved regions between Cit s 2 and other profilins were located on the 3D model and antigenic regions were predicted by ElliPro server (3-5).

Results: Cit s 2 amino acid sequence (Uniprot code:P84177) was compared with other 30 profilins from different allergenic sources. The identity between Cit s 2 and other profilins ranged between 82 and 99%. The highest identity was observed with Cucumis melo (99%) followed by Prunus persica (98%) and Malus domestica (92%). High conserved antigenic regions were observed on the 3D predicted model. Seven lineal and six discontinuous epitopes were found in Cit s 2.

Conclusion: High conserved antigenic regions were observed on the 3D predicted model of Cit s 2, which might involve potential cross-reactivity between Cit s 2 and other profilins. Future studies are needed to further analyze these results.