Sensitization to one or more non-specific lipid transfer proteins (nsLTPs), initially thought exist mainly in southern Europe, is becoming accepted as a cause of allergic reactions plant foods across Europe and beyond. The peach nsLTP allergen Pru p 3 dominant sensitizing peaches common food trigger, although multiple can be involved. A frequent feature the requirement for cofactor (exercise, a...

Allergic diseases are among the most common health issues worldwide. Specific immunotherapy has remained the only disease-modifying treatment, but it is not effective in all patients and may cause side effects. Over the last 25 years, allergen molecules from most prevalent allergen sources have been isolated and produced as recombinant proteins. Not only are these molecules useful in improved a...

Epicutaneous allergen-specific immunotherapy (EPIT) is proposed as an alternative route for allergen-specific immunotherapy (AIT). The induction of allergen-specific blocking IgG antibodies represents an important mechanism underlying AIT, but has not been investigated for EPIT. Here, we compared the induction of allergen-specific blocking IgG in outbred guinea pigs which had been immunized wit...

Indian jujube (Zizyphus mauritiana) is a sweet fruit that is abundantly cultivated in Taiwan. We have previously identified 42 and 30 kDa allergens that are cross-reactive with latex allergen from crude Indian jujube extract. This study aimed to clone the 30 kDa Ziz m 1 Z. mauritiana allergen. The Ziz m 1 encoding cDNA was isolated from a ZAPII cDNA library constructed from Z. mauritiana mRNA, ...

Type I allergies are immunological disorders that afflict a quarter of the world's population. Improved diagnosis of allergic diseases and the formulation of new therapeutic approaches are based on the use of recombinant allergens. We describe here for the first time the application of a rapid plant-based expression system for a plant-derived allergen and its immunological characterization. We ...

IgE-mediated sensitization to wheat flour belongs to the most frequent causes of occupational asthma. A cDNA library from wheat seeds was constructed and screened with serum IgE from baker's asthma patients. One IgE-reactive phage clone contained a full-length cDNA coding for an allergen with a molecular mass of 9.9 kDa and an isoelectric point of 6. According to sequence analysis it represents...

BACKGROUND Allergic asthma is a chronic inflammatory airway disease caused by exposure to airborne allergens. In order to develop novel therapies for allergic asthma, models that are relevant to human disease are needed. METHODS Female BALB/c mice were presensitised subcutaneously with alum-adsorbed recombinant cat allergen Fel d 1, followed by intranasal challenges with cat dander extract sp...

BACKGROUND Component-resolved diagnosis using microarray technology has recently been introduced in clinical allergology, but its applicability in patients with natural rubber latex (NRL) allergy has not been investigated. OBJECTIVES To evaluate the utility of microarray-based immunoglobulin (Ig) E detection in the diagnostic workup of NRL allergy and to compare this new diagnostic tool with ...

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE The Indianmeal moth Plodia interpunctella is a highly prevalent food pest in human dwellings, and has been shown to contain a number of allergens. So far, only one of these, the arginine kinase (Plo i 1) has been identified. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to identify further allergens and characterise these in comparison to Plo i 1. METHOD A cDNA library from whole...

BACKGROUND Allergen-specific IgE and IgG antibodies play pivotal roles in the induction and progression of allergic hypersensitivity reactions. Consequently, monoclonal human IgE and IgG4 antibodies with defined specificity for allergens should be useful in allergy research and diagnostic tests. We used combinatorial antibody libraries and subsequent recombinant production to make and assess Ig...