{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,24]],"date-time":"2026-07-24T13:16:25Z","timestamp":1784898985125,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,30]],"date-time":"2021-11-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1638230400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"the Charitable Trust Fund for Ophthalmic Research in Commemoration of Santen Pharmaceutical's Founder","award":["NA"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NA"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Cells"],"abstract":"<jats:p>We investigated the prophylactic and therapeutic effects of the oral administration of transgenic rice seeds expressing a hypoallergenic Bet v 1 derivative of allergic birch pollen conjunctivitis in mice. Transgenic rice seed depositing a chimeric molecule called TPC7 (tree pollen chimera 7) created by DNA shuffling of Bet v 1 family sequences from birch, alder and hazel in protein bodies of endosperm was generated. BALB\/c mice were sensitized to birch pollen in alum and challenged with pollen in eyedrops. They were fed TPC7 transgenic or non-transgenic (control) rice seeds for 14 d before sensitization (prophylactic protocol) or 17 d after sensitization (therapeutic protocol). The clinical score and number of conjunctival eosinophils were significantly lower in TPC7-fed mice than in the control mice based on both the prophylactic and therapeutic protocols. Serum concentration of allergen-specific IgE did not differ between TPC7-fed and control groups in either protocol. Prophylactic administration of TPC7 downregulated the production of IL-4 and IFN-\u03b3, whereas therapeutic administration of TPC7 upregulated the production of IFN-\u03b3 by allergen-stimulated splenocytes. Prophylactic or therapeutic oral administration of transgenic rice expressing TPC7 suppressed birch pollen-induced allergic conjunctivitis in mice. Feeding transgenic rice is a potentially effective approach as an allergen-specific immunotherapy for allergic conjunctivitis.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/cells10123361","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,30]],"date-time":"2021-11-30T20:29:27Z","timestamp":1638304167000},"page":"3361","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["Prophylactic and Therapeutic Effects of Oral Immunotherapy on Birch Pollen-Induced Allergic Conjunctivitis in Mice with a Rice-Based Edible Vaccine Expressing a Hypoallergenic Birch Pollen Allergen"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3217-3059","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Waka","family":"Ishida","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Kochi Medical School, Kochi University, Kochi 783-8505, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5437-7298","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tatsuma","family":"Kishimoto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Kochi Medical School, Kochi University, Kochi 783-8505, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fumio","family":"Takaiwa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Ibaraki 305-8602, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4990-6308","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ken","family":"Fukuda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Kochi Medical School, Kochi University, Kochi 783-8505, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jaci.2015.03.048","article-title":"The allergy epidemics: 1870\u20132010","volume":"136","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. 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