Identification of S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine hydrolase from banana fruit as a novel plant panallergen

Banana allergy is often associated with the pollen and latex allergies, which led us to the hypothesis that some yet unidentified banana allergen could provide a basis of the latex-pollen-fruit syndrome. S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine hydrolase (SAHH) was recently identified in the literature as a novel plant allergen. This study aimed to assess the allergenic potential of the naturally occurring banana SAHH (nSAHH) and its recombinant homolog pro-duced in E. coli (rSAHH). nSAHH showed IgE reactivity with a serum pool of twelve banana-allergic persons, while rSAHH displayed IgE reactivity in ten out of the twelve tested patients. Five linear B-cell epitopes were identified on the rSAHH surface, exhibiting >= 90 % sequence homology with relevant plant SAHH allergens. Our findings have elucidated SAHH as a novel plant panallergen, underlying the cross-reactivity between plant-derived food and respiratory allergens, confirming our initial hypothesis.