0000000000125094
AUTHOR
H. Decker
showing 2 related works from this author
Allergological implication of the quaternary hexameric structure of the cockroach allergen Per a 3.
2007
Summary Background Cockroach allergens play a very important role in allergic diseases, especially asthma. The major allergen of the American cockroach (Periplaneta americana), Per a 3, naturally occurs as isoforms of hexamers. Objective The aim of this study was to investigate whether the hexameric structures of Per a 3 influence their allergenicity and immunogenicity. Methods Therefore, we compared the different effects of native hexamers and dissociated monomers of cockroach haemolymph (HL), containing almost only Per a 3 proteins (HL-Per a 3), on proliferation and T-helper type 1 (Th1)/Th2 cytokine production of human CD4+ T cells in co-culture with allergen-pulsed monocyte-derived auto…
Molecular Structure of the Arthropod Hemocyanins
1992
Hemocyanin is an extracellular, blue protein that occurs in high concentrations in the blood of many arthropods, including spiders, scorpions, horseshoe crabs, crustaceans, and at least two centipedes. Serving as an ### oxygen carrier, it is functionally equivalent to hemoglobin, but performs reversible oxygen binding between two copper ions. Hemocyanin is composed of a number of subunits that assemble in an extremely large macro-molecular entity. These particles, which are similar in size to viruses or ribosomes, exhibit a complex allosteric behavior during oxygen binding. There is growing evidence that this functional plasticity has evolved upon, and answers to, ecophysiological constrain…