Impact of gluten-friendly™ technology on wheat kernel endosperm and gluten protein structure in seeds by light and electron microscopy

• Published in: Food chemistry 2017-04, Vol.221, p.1258-1268
• Main Authors: Landriscina, L., D'Agnello, P., Bevilacqua, A., Corbo, M.R., Sinigaglia, M., Lamacchia, C.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antigenic epitopes; Endosperm - chemistry; Endosperm - ultrastructure; Gluten-friendly; Glutens - chemistry; Glutens - immunology; Immunofluorescent microscopy; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; Seeds - chemistry; SEM; Triticum - chemistry; Triticum - ultrastructure
• ISSN: 0308-8146; 1873-7072
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2016.11.031

•SEM experiments pinpointed that GF induced a significant aggregation of proteins.•Microscopy showed significant changes to gluten proteins after GF treatment.•Cross-reactivity with specific antibodies for gluten proteins was strongly reduced. The main aim of this paper was to assess the impact of Gluten-Friendly™ (GF) technology (Italian priority patent n° 102015000084813 filed on 17th December 2015) on wheat kernel endosperm morphology and gluten protein structure, using SEM, light and immunofluorescent microscopy. Microscopy was combined with immunodetection with specific antibodies for gliadins, γ-gliadins, LMW subunits and antigenic epitopes to gain a better understanding of the technology at a molecular level. The results showed significant changes to gluten proteins after GF treatment; cross-reactivity towards the antibodies recognizing almost the entire range of gluten proteins as well as the antigenic epitopes through the sequences QQSF, QQSY, PEQPFPQGC and QQPFP was significantly reduced. The present study confirms the results from our previous work and shows, for the first time, the mechanism by which a chemical-physical treatment abolishes the antigenic capacity of gluten.