Immune responses to meat allergens

The knowledge about allergic reactions to meat and meat products is very limited and therefore the awareness about meat allergy is low. However, like other food allergen sources, also meat and meat products can cause severe life-threatening allergic reactions. We were among the first to identify allergens from poultry (white) meat and mammalian (red) meat. In this project, we plan to identify and characterize further meat allergens with the aim to complete the panel of relevant meat allergens and determine their clinical importance. Furthermore, we will analyze the allergens stability to heat and gastrointestinal digestion and their ability to cross intestinal epithelial cells. For food allergens, the ability to cross the gastrointestinal barrier is essential for inducing sensitization and eliciting allergic reactions. In addition, we will investigate the cross-reactivity between meat allergens and proteins of other animal- based foods, such as seafood, fish, and edible insects. Knowledge about potentially cross-reactive allergens in other food sources is of importance to make the patient aware of foods that might also cause allergic reactions. Furthermore, these findings will contribute to advancing the diagnostic and therapeutic possibilities for meat and related allergies. A further focus of the project will be on the so called a-Gal-syndrome, an unusual form of red meat allergy, where patients suffer from very severe allergic reactions several hours after the ingestion of red meat. Interestingly, these patients produce IgE antibodies against the sugar moiety a-Gal, present in mammalian meat, such as pork, beef, or lamb, and they develop these IgE antibodies only after a previous tick bite. The precise mechanisms leading to the a-Gal-syndrome are not yet understood. We therefore plan to study the responses of various immune cells to tick saliva and identify components in the tick saliva, which contribute to the development of allergic reactions against a-Gal. A deeper insight into the mechanisms driving allergic sensitization to a-Gal might also help to better understand allergic sensitization to other food allergens, since increasing evidence indicates that the skin could represent a site of allergic sensitization also for other food allergens.