Fungal allergy – From allergen molecules to the diagnosis and treatment of mould allergies

The aim of the project is to determine the most important allergenic moulds and cap fungi occurring in Central Europe, as well as to identify and characterise their allergens. To achieve this goal, both the large fungal strain collection of the AIT and newly collected environmental fungal samples will be characterised using modern molecular biological methods and screened for fungal allergens using sera from fungal allergy sufferers. The identified allergens are then produced recombinantly and characterised biochemically or immunologically. Analyses of the IgE reactivity of the recombinant allergens with sera from a large number of patients will make it possible to determine the significance of the identified allergens for fungal-allergic patients.

The Immunology research group headed by FH-Prof^.in Univ. Doz^.in Dr^. in Ines Swoboda is a third-party provider in the project "From allergen molecules towards diagnosis and treatment of mould allergy" led by Dr.ⁱⁿ Angela Sessitsch, (AIT Austrian Institute of Technology), which is dedicated to the topic of fungal allergy.