Production of the protein, probable marker for linden allergy

Project is funded by:   Innovation Fund of the Republic of Serbia (Belgrade, Serbia)

The research is conducted in:   University of Belgrade - Faculty of Chemistry (Belgrade, Serbia)

Project realization is scheduled from September 15, 2020 till September 15, 2021.

Project staff

Short description of the project

Pollen allergies have tremendous global clinical impact. Diagnosis of allergy in a clinical setting is based on the use of purified allergens which are considered to be more accurate and sensitive than crude pollen extracts. Thus, proper identification and characterization of allergens at the molecular level and production of a recombinant counterpart are of outmost importance for the efficient use of the current diagnostic tools for allergy. Recombinant allergens are nowadays produced instead of natural, as isolation of a natural allergen is a troublesome process. Tree pollens that are most commonly associated with respiratory allergies are produced by birch in the Northern, Central, and Eastern Europe, and by olive and cypress in the Mediterranean regions. Accordingly, most research so far has focused on the allergenicity of pollens from birch, olive and cypress. Allergy to linden pollen has been known, but no allergen has been described from this source yet. Here we propose cloning and production of the first recombinant linden pollen allergen that can be used as a marker allergen of linden pollen allergenicity and complement existing diagnostic allergen-arrays. Also, production of this recombinant allergen has potential to contribute to the development of novel allergen-diagnostic tools through collaborations with biotech companies.