Identification of an abundant 56 kDa protein implicated in food allergy as granule-bound starch synthase

Rice, the staple food of south and east Asian counties, is considered to be hypoallergenic. However, several clinical studies have documented rice-induced allergy in sensitive patients. Rice proteins with molecular weights of 14-16, 26, 33, and 56 kDa have been identified as allergens. Recently, it was documented that the 56 kDa rice allergen was responsible for rice-induced anaphylaxis. The 14-16 kDa allergens have been identified as α-amylase inhibitors; the 26 kDa protein has been identified as α-globulin; and the 33 kDa protein has been identified as glyoxalase I. However, the identity of the 56 kDa rice allergen has not yet been determined. In this study, we demonstrate that serum from patients allergic to maize shows IgE binding to a 56 kDa protein that was present in both maize and rice but not in the oil seeds soybean and peanut. The 56 kDa IgE-binding protein was abundant in the rice endosperm. We have purified this protein from rice endosperm and demonstrated its reactivity to IgE antibodies from the serum of maize-allergic patients. The purified protein was subjected to matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight-tandem mass spectrometry analysis, resulting in identification of this rice allergen as granule-bound starch synthase, a product of the Waxy gene. Immunoblot analysis using protein extracts from a waxy mutant of rice revealed the absence of the 56 kDa IgE-binding protein. Our results demonstrate that the 56 kDa rice allergen is granule-bound starch synthase and raise the possibility of using waxy mutants of rice as a potential source of the hypoallergenic diet for patients sensitized to the 56 kDa rice allergen.