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Open Access 01-12-2021 | Food Allergy | Research article

Predicting the allergenicity of legume proteins using a PBMC gene expression assay

Authors: Mark Smits, Marjolein Meijerink, Thuy-My Le, André Knulst, Aard de Jong, Martinus Petrus Maria Caspers, Everton Souto Lima, Lilia Babé, Gregory Ladics, Scott McClain, Geert Houben, Kitty Verhoeckx

Published in: BMC Immunology | Issue 1/2021

Abstract

Background

Food proteins differ in their allergenic potential. Currently, there is no predictive and validated bio-assay to evaluate the allergenicity of novel food proteins. The objective of this study was to investigate the potential of a human peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) gene expression assay to identify biomarkers to predict the allergenicity of legume proteins.

Results

PBMCs from healthy donors were exposed to weakly and strongly allergenic legume proteins (2S albumins, and 7S and 11S globulins from white bean, soybean, peanut, pea and lupine) in three experiments. Possible biomarkers for allergenicity were investigated by exposing PBMCs to a protein pair of weakly (white bean) and strongly allergenic (soybean) 7S globulins in a pilot experiment. Gene expression was measured by RNA-sequencing and differentially expressed genes were selected as biomarkers. 153 genes were identified as having significantly different expression levels to the 7S globulin of white bean compared to soybean. Inclusion of multiple protein pairs from 2S albumins (lupine and peanut) and 7S globulins (white bean and soybean) in a larger study, led to the selection of CCL2, CCL7, and RASD2 as biomarkers to distinguish weakly from strongly allergenic proteins. The relevance of these three biomarkers was confirmed by qPCR when PBMCs were exposed to a larger panel of weakly and strongly allergenic legume proteins (2S albumins, and 7S and 11S globulins from white bean, soybean, peanut, pea and lupine).

Conclusions

The PBMC gene expression assay can potentially distinguish weakly from strongly allergenic legume proteins within a protein family, though it will be challenging to develop a generic method for all protein families from plant and animal sources. Graded responses within a protein family might be of more value in allergenicity prediction instead of a yes or no classification.

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Title: Predicting the allergenicity of legume proteins using a PBMC gene expression assay
Authors: Mark Smits
Marjolein Meijerink
Thuy-My Le
André Knulst
Aard de Jong
Martinus Petrus Maria Caspers
Everton Souto Lima
Lilia Babé
Gregory Ladics
Scott McClain
Geert Houben
Kitty Verhoeckx
Publication date: 01-12-2021
Publisher: BioMed Central
Keywords: Food Allergy
Biomarkers
Published in: BMC Immunology / Issue 1/2021
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2172
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12865-021-00415-x

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Abstract

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