Recombinant cypress allergens.

Cedar/cypress/juniper pollen allergy is probably one of the most common worldwide pollen allergy. Purification, identification and characterization of allergens increased the knowledge about the IgE reactivity of allergic subjects toward defined allergenic components. Molecular biology give the opportunity to produce the allergens in virtually unlimited reproducible amount, to further characterize the IgE reactivity of the allergenic molecule, and finally how this reactivity can be modified for therapeutic purposes. The DNA recombinant technique has been applied to the study of cedar/cypress/juniper pollen allergens and several molecules have been cloned. These molecules can be divided in four groups depending on their biologic activity: he Pectate lyases (rCry j 1, rCha o 1, rJun a 1); the Polygalacturonase (rCry j 2, rCha o 2); the Thaumatin-like pathogenesis-related protein (rJun a 3); the Calcium-binding protein (rJun o 2). Main immunobiologic features of these cedar/cypress/juniper recombinant allergens will be summarized.