Meat Allergy – characterisation of meat allergens for improved diagnosis of meat allergies

Allergic reactions to food are among the most important and dangerous IgE-mediated allergies, as they are often associated with life-threatening anaphylactic reactions. So far, there is only limited knowledge about allergic reactions caused by meat. The focus of this project is the identification and characterisation of allergens from different meat sources (e.g.: poultry, beef, pork, lamb and game). 
Identified allergens will be expressed in bacterial expression systems to generate recombinant molecules. These recombinant meat allergens are first analysed with regard to their biochemical and structural characteristics and then evaluated with regard to their IgE binding capacity and allergenicity. Those recombinant allergens that show immunological properties comparable to natural allergens represent molecules that can be used for an improved diagnosis of meat allergies.

A further aim of this project is to use the recombinant meat allergens for the production of meat allergen-specific rabbit antisera and to use these for the development of sandwich ELISA assay systems. These ELISA systems can be used to detect meat allergens in food.