Characterization of Allergens: Assessing Common Structural Features and Biological Functions

TOPICAL COLLECTIONS

Guest Editors

Lorenz Aglas

University of Salzburg

Dr. Lorenz Aglas, Senior Scientist at the University of Salzburg, finished his PhD in Molecular Biology in August 2017 at the University of Salzburg, Department of Biosciences. His PhD thesis “Intrinsic properties of the Bet v 1 fold: impact on immunogenicity and allergenicity” was rewarded with several awards, including the 2018 PhD thesis price of the Austrian Society for Allergology and Immunology (ÖGAI). He has contributed to 13 publications in high-ranking peer-reviewed journals in the field of molecular allergology and immunology. Currently, his research team consists of one PhD student, four master degree students, a technical assistant, and a bachelor degree student. The main focus of his research is understanding the mechanism of allergic sensitization induced by pollen allergens, the induction of immune tolerance, and the development of novel therapeutic approaches for the treatment of pollen allergies.

Fatima Ferreira

University of Salzburg

Dr. Fatima Ferreira, Full Professor at the Department of Biosciences of the University of Salzburg in Austria, started her career with the completion of a doctoral degree in Dental Surgery from the Federal University of Uberlandia and a doctorate degree in Biochemistry from the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil. Following graduation, she joined the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Toronto in Canada as a postdoctoral fellow. After working as a Research Assistant at the Institute of General and Experimental Pathology at the University of Vienna, she became Assistant Professor, and later, Full Professor at the Department of Molecular Biology at the University of Salzburg. Her career-related activities include more than 20 appointments or elections to national and international organizations, including Advisory Board Member of the Austrian Science fund, President of the Austrian Society of Allergology and Immunology, and Co-Chair of the Allergen Standardization Subcommittee of World Health Organization/International Union of Immunological Societies, and Vice-Rector for Research at the University of Salzburg. Her research has focused on the molecular and immunological characterization of birch, ragweed, and mugwort pollen allergens. The research on pollen allergens triggered the interest to investigate intrinsic and extrinsic factors involved in the TH2-biased immune responses to allergens as basis for understanding allergic sensitization and for developing novel concepts for allergy vaccines. She has authored/co-authored 238 peer-reviewed articles, which have earned 14,891 citations, according to Google Scholar (https://goo.gl/dKGrkv).

Collection Overview

Allergic diseases are among the most common chronic inflammatory diseases and are constantly impacting the patients´ quality of life, resulting in high costs for public healthcare systems. The pathology is always linked to particular proteins, termed allergens, involved in allergic sensitization and responsible for the occurrence of symptoms in susceptible individuals. Allergens are classified into inhalant allergens (e.g. pollen or house dust mites), food allergens, insect venoms and contact allergens. Depending on the allergen involved in the allergic reaction, disease severity ranges from moderate symptoms including rhino-conjunctivitis, allergic asthma, urticaria and atopic dermatitis to very serious life-threatening conditions such as anaphylaxis. Up to now, 984 different allergens have been officially registered in the IUIS allergen database. The question what makes a protein an allergen remains unanswered; however, it is generally agreed that allergenic proteins share certain common structural and functional features. The scope of this methods collection is to summarize current methods required for accurate characterization of structural (e.g stability, proteolytic susceptibility, IgE-epitopes) as well as functional (e.g. enzymatic activity, ligand binding, activation of the innate immunity) properties of allergens. Detailed allergen characterization is of utmost importance to provide/maintain high standards of reagents and methods in allergy research and represents the basis for the development of diagnostic and therapeutic tools.