IgE-cross-blocking antibodies to Fagales following sublingual immunotherapy with recombinant Bet v 1.

Background: Evidence has accumulated that birch pollen immunotherapy reduces rhinoconjunctivitis to pollen of birch homologous trees. Therapeutic efficacy has been associated with IgE-blocking IgG antibodies. We have recently shown that sera collected after 16 weeks of sublingual immunotherapy with recombinant Bet v 1 (rBet v 1-SLIT) display strong IgE-blocking bioactivity for Bet v 1.

Tropomyosins in mosquito and house dust mite cross-react at the humoral and cellular level.

Background: Aedes aegypti and Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus contain important allergens including cross-reactive tropomyosins. However, the functional and clinical relevance of their cross-reactivity is still debated.

Objective: To analyse the humoral and cellular cross-reactivity of recombinant Aed a 10.

Proteomic profiling of the weed feverfew, a neglected pollen allergen source.

Feverfew (Parthenium hysterophorus), an invasive weed from the Asteraceae family, has been reported as allergen source. Despite its relevance, knowledge of allergens is restricted to a partial sequence of a hydroxyproline-rich glycoprotein. We aimed to obtain the entire sequence for recombinant production and characterize feverfew pollen using proteomics and immunological assays.

Expression and Characterization of Functional Recombinant Bet v 1.0101 in the Chloroplast of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

Background: Allergen immunotherapy (AIT) still plays a minor role in the treatment of allergic diseases. To improve the acceptance of AIT by allergic patients, the treatment has to become more convenient and efficacious. One possibility is the oral application of allergens or derivatives thereof.

T Cell Epitope-Containing Domains of Ragweed Amb a 1 and Mugwort Art v 6 Modulate Immunologic Responses in Humans and Mice.

Background: Ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) and mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) are the major cause of pollen allergy in late summer. Allergen-specific lymphocytes are crucial for immune modulation during immunotherapy. We sought to generate and pre-clinically characterise highly immunogenic domains of the homologous pectate lyases in ragweed (Amb a 1) and mugwort pollen (Art v 6) for immunotherapy.

Tackling Bet v 1 and associated food allergies with a single hybrid protein.

Background: Allergy vaccines should be easily applicable, safe, and efficacious. For Bet v 1-mediated birch pollen and associated food allergies, a single wild-type allergen does not provide a complete solution.

Objective: We aimed to combine immunologically relevant epitopes of Bet v 1 and the 2 clinically most important related food allergens from apple and hazelnut to a single hybrid protein, termed MBC4.

A Cross-Reactive Human Single-Chain Antibody for Detection of Major Fish Allergens, Parvalbumins, and Identification of a Major IgE-Binding Epitope.

Fish allergy is associated with moderate to severe IgE-mediated reactions to the calcium binding parvalbumins present in fish muscle. Allergy to multiple fish species is caused by parvalbumin-specific cross-reactive IgE recognizing conserved epitopes. In this study, we aimed to produce cross-reactive single chain variable fragment (scFv) antibodies for the detection of parvalbumins in fish extracts and the identification of IgE epitopes.

Pectate lyase pollen allergens: sensitization profiles and cross-reactivity pattern.

Background: Pollen released by allergenic members of the botanically unrelated families of Asteraceae and Cupressaceae represent potent elicitors of respiratory allergies in regions where these plants are present. As main allergen sources the Asteraceae species ragweed and mugwort, as well as the Cupressaceae species, cypress, mountain cedar, and Japanese cedar have been identified. The major allergens of all species belong to the pectate lyase enzyme family.

Component-resolved IgE profiles in Austrian patients with a convincing history of peanut allergy.

Background: Peanut allergy develops after primary sensitization to peanut allergens and/or IgE cross-sensitization with homologous allergens from various plants. Therefore, heterogeneous patterns of sensitization to individual peanut allergens are observed in different countries. The aim of this study was to examine the IgE sensitization patterns of Austrian peanut-allergic patients.

Guideline on allergen-specific immunotherapy in IgE-mediated allergic diseases: S2k Guideline of the German Society for Allergology and Clinical Immunology (DGAKI), the Society for Pediatric Allergy and Environmental Medicine (GPA), the Medical Association of German Allergologists (AeDA), the Austrian Society for Allergy and Immunology (ÖGAI), the Swiss Society for Allergy and Immunology (SGAI), the German Society of Dermatology (DDG), the German Society of Oto- Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery (DGHNO-KHC), the German Society of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine (DGKJ), the Society for Pediatric Pneumology (GPP), the German Respiratory Society (DGP), the German Association of ENT Surgeons (BV-HNO), the Professional Federation of Paediatricians and Youth Doctors (BVKJ), the Federal Association of Pulmonologists (BDP) and the German Dermatologists Association (BVDD).

The present guideline (S2k) on allergen-specific immunotherapy (AIT) was established by the German, Austrian and Swiss professional associations for allergy in consensus with the scientific specialist societies and professional associations in the fields of otolaryngology, dermatology and venereology, pediatric and adolescent medicine, pneumology as well as a German patient organization (German Allergy and Asthma Association; Deutscher Allergie- und Asthmabund, DAAB) according to the criteria of the Association of the Scientific Medical Societies in Germany (Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Wissenschaftlichen Medizinischen Fachgesellschaften, AWMF). AIT is a therapy with disease-modifying effects. By administering allergen extracts, specific blocking antibodies, toler-ance-inducing cells and mediators are activated.

Vig r 6, the cytokinin-specific binding protein from mung bean (Vigna radiata) sprouts, cross-reacts with Bet v 1-related allergens and binds IgE from birch pollen allergic patients' sera.

Scope: Birch pollen associated allergy to mung bean sprouts is caused by cross-reactivity between the birch pollen allergen Bet v 1 and the mung bean allergen Vig r 1. We aimed to determine the allergenicity of the cytokinin-specific binding protein from mung bean (Vig r 6), another allergen related to Bet v 1 with only 31% sequence identity.

Methods And Results: Bet v 1, Gly m 4, Vig r 1, and Vig r 6 were produced in Escherichia coli.

Allergenic relevance of nonspecific lipid transfer proteins 2: Identification and characterization of Api g 6 from celery tuber as representative of a novel IgE-binding protein family.

Scope: Apium graveolens represents a relevant food allergen source linked with severe systemic reactions. We sought to identify an IgE-binding nonspecific lipid transfer protein (nsLTP) in celery tuber.

Methods And Results: A low molecular weight protein exclusively present in celery tuber was purified and designated Api g 6.

Oral exposure to Mal d 1 affects the immune response in patients with birch pollen allergy.

Background: Antibodies and T cells specific for the major birch pollen allergen Bet v 1 cross-react with structurally related food allergens, such as Mal d 1 in apple.

Objective: We sought to evaluate the effects of oral uptake of Mal d 1 on the allergen-specific immune response in patients with birch pollen allergy.

Methods: Patients received 50 μg of rBet v 1 sublingually on 2 consecutive days outside of the birch pollen season.

Molecular and immunological characterization of Tri a 36, a low molecular weight glutenin, as a novel major wheat food allergen.

Wheat is an essential element in our nutrition but one of the most important food allergen sources. Wheat allergic patients often suffer from severe gastrointestinal and systemic allergic reactions after wheat ingestion. In this study, we report the molecular and immunological characterization of a new major wheat food allergen, Tri a 36.

Association of HLA-DR1 with the allergic response to the major mugwort pollen allergen: molecular background.

Background: Mugwort pollen allergens represent the main cause of pollinosis in late summer. The major allergen, Art v 1, contains only one single immunodominant, solely HLA-DR-restricted T cell epitope (Art v 125-36). The frequency of HLA-DRB1*01 is highly increased in mugwort-allergic individuals and HLA-DR1 serves as restriction element for Art v 125-36.

Humoral and cellular cross-reactivity between Amb a 1, the major ragweed pollen allergen, and its mugwort homolog Art v 6.

Ragweed and mugwort are closely related weeds that represent the major cause of pollen allergy in late summer. Concomitant sensitization and clinical cross-reactivity frequently occur in subjects who are coexposed to both pollen species, and have implications for diagnosis and specific immunotherapy. Molecules involved in this cross-reactivity might be Amb a 1, the major ragweed pollen allergen, and Art v 6, a highly homologous allergen from mugwort.

Birch pollen-related food allergy: clinical aspects and the role of allergen-specific IgE and IgG4 antibodies.

Background: Patients with birch pollen allergy often develop allergic reactions to plant foods.

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence, main symptoms, and triggers of birch pollen-related food allergy and the role of food-specific IgG(4) antibodies in food tolerance.

Methods: Food-induced symptoms were evaluated in 225 individuals with birch pollen allergy by using a standardized questionnaire.

Latex-allergic patients sensitized to the major allergen hevein and hevein-like domains of class I chitinases show no increased frequency of latex-associated plant food allergy.

Allergies to certain fruits such as banana, avocado, chestnut and kiwi are described in 30-70% of latex-allergic patients. This association is attributed to the cross-reactivity between the major latex allergen hevein and hevein-like domains (HLDs) from fruit class I chitinases. We aimed to assess the extent of cross-reactivity between hevein and HLDs using sera from latex-allergic patients with and without plant food allergy.

Visualization of clustered IgE epitopes on alpha-lactalbumin.

Background: alpha-Lactalbumin (alpha-La) is a major cow's milk (CM) allergen responsible for allergic reactions in infants.

Objective: We performed molecular, structural, and immunologic characterization of alpha-La.

Methods: Recombinant alpha-lactalbumin (ralpha-La) was expressed in Escherichia coli, purified to homogeneity, and characterized by means of mass spectrometry and circular dichroism, and its allergenic activity was studied by using microarray technology, as well as in a basophil histamine release assay.

The influence of recombinant production on the immunologic behavior of birch pollen isoallergens.

Background: Allergic reactions towards the birch major pollen allergen Bet v 1 are among the most common causes of spring pollinosis in the temperate climate zone of the Northern hemisphere. Natural Bet v 1 is composed of a complex mixture of different isoforms. Detailed analysis of recombinant Bet v 1 isoforms revealed striking differences in immunologic as well as allergenic properties of the molecules, leading to a classification of Bet v 1 isoforms into high, medium, and low IgE binding proteins.