Blomia tropicalis allergen 5 (Blo t 5) T-cell epitopes and their ability to suppress the allergic immune response.

Blomia tropicalis is the major asthma allergen in the tropics comparable to Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus. However, little is known about the B. tropicalis epitopes recognized by T cells. Our aim was to identify the T-cell epitopes in the major B. tropicalis allergen, Blo t 5, and investigate the potential of the corresponding peptides to inhibit the allergic inflammatory lung response. C57BL/6 mice were immunized with plasmid DNA encoding Blo t 5 and T-cell epitopes identified using the interferon-γ ELISPOT assay with 15-mer overlapping peptides. C57BL/6 mice were sensitized with bone-marrow-derived dendritic cells (BMDC) pulsed with Blo t 5 allergen followed by intranasal Blo t 5 challenge. Two H-2