Investigating shellfish and mite allergen cross-reactivity and the effect of protein diversity on allergenicity
Role
Supervisor
Description
Shellfish allergy increases in prevalence with age and is often a life-long condition. However, the mechanism of this persistence is largely unknown. Persistence of shellfish allergy may be due to cross-reactive interactions between evolutionarily related species, which may initiate and sustain allergen sensitisation. Cross-reactivity results from shared allergen amino acid sequences between species, causing individual IgE-binding to both. Amino acid diversity may predict sensitisation to shellfish and/or mites, e.g., mite-sensitised individuals may be more at risk of developing shellfish allergy. Other large-scale forms of protein diversity may also influence allergenicity (e.g., environmental changes). Understanding allergen cross-reactivity and diversity will inform prevention and treatment strategies. This project aims to explore immunological and clinical cross-reactivity between shellfish and mite allergens and the effect of environmental temperature on allergen diversity in muscle tissue. This project will be conducted under a postgraduate research top-up scholarship with the Centre for Food Allergy Research (CFAR), which grants $10,000 p.a. top-up to an existing PhD scholarship.
Date
05 Feb 2025 - 05 Feb 2027
Project Type
N/A
Keywords
allergy;mite;shellfish;cross-reactivity
Funding Body
Center for Food Allergy Research (CFAR)
Amount
20000
Project Team
Ludwig Lopata;Shaymaviswanathan Karnaneedi