Towards a Pan-Anti-Allergy Vaccine

Abstract

Allergic manifestations affect 20% - 30% of the population in industrialized countries. The global market for asthma and allergy medications has been estimated to exceed USD 6 billion, since 40% of the human population has some form of IgE sensitization to diverse proteins. Most therapeutic intervention strategies cope with the symptoms of allergy without eliminating the underlying cause and many are associated with undesirable and often long-term debilitating side effects. We designed a peptide immunogen encompassing sequences of the human Cε2-3 linker region to prime rat (Rattus norvegicus) immune systems, we then designed a chimeric human-dog-human IgE antibody and used it to boost the immune system and produce high-affinity antibodies that targets native IgE. The investigation showed that this peptide immunogen elicit the formation of antibodies recognizing the native IgE of human, canine and equine origin. The current investigation describes novel approaches aimed at the development of safe anti-allergy vaccines based on active immunization with IgE-derived peptides that are involved in the complementary interaction with the high affinity receptor. The immunization strategy was successful but did not fully work as predicted, thus we propose that peptides described in the current study may lead to the development of a pananti-allergy vaccine with applications for the treatment of all IgE-mediated allergic response independent of the nature of the offending allergen.