Proteomics in Food Allergy

Allergic reactions can be caused by a variety of environmental challenges, including inhalation of dust or pollen, and by ingestion of foods. They are a consequence of an inappropriate immune response, which may result in tissue inflammation and damage and, in most cases, involve generation of an IgE- mediated response towards the offending environmental agent, defined as allergen. Although the search for clinically relevant allergens has drastically progressed, structural characterization of allergens still requires extensive efforts and large amounts of starting material. Therefore, methods which may allow simultaneous identification of multiple proteins are invaluable for allergen screening in food matrices. Today, these challenging issues are being addressed by use of integrated, up-to-date analytical approaches which constitute the platform of modern food proteomics, and where a pivotal role is played by mass spectrometry (MS). Recently, MS-based approaches for food peptide and protein characterization are proving to be essential at various levels in the study of food allergy, from the structural characterization of novel food allergens to the controversial issue of the resistance to digestion of allergenic proteins or to the efficiency of removal of epitopes from a food destined to allergic subjects. Over the next years, the integrated omic-based 161approaches are expected to greatly expand our knowledge on the mechanisms that form the basis of food allergy and to assist the development of novel ingredients and more efficient technological processes for production of effectively safe foods.