Graph Based Study of Allergen Cross-Reactivity of Plant Lipid Transfer Proteins (LTPs) Using Microarray in a Multicenter Study

The study of cross-reactivity in allergy is key to both understanding. the allergic response of many patients and providing them with a rational treatment In the present study, protein microarrays and a co-sensitization graph approach were used in conjunction with an allergen microarray immunoassay. This enabled us to include a wide number of proteins and a large number of patients, and to study sensitization profiles among members of the LTP family. Fourteen LTPs from the most frequent plant food-induced allergies in the geographical area studied were printed into a microarray specifically designed for this research. 212 patients with fruit allergy and 117 food-tolerant pollen allergic subjects were recruited from seven regions of Spain with different pollen profiles, and their sera were tested with allergen microarray. This approach has proven itself to be a good tool to study cross-reactivity between members of LTP family, and could become a useful strategy to analyze other families of allergens. Citation: Palacin A, Gomez-Casado C, Rivas LA, Aguirre J, Tordesillas L, et al. (2012) Graph Based Study of Allergen Cross-Reactivity of Plant Lipid Transfer Proteins (LTPs) Using Microarray in a Multicenter Study. PLoS ONE 7(12): e50799. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0050799