Predicting the allergenicity of legume proteins using a PBMC gene expression assay_Biomarker search study

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. PBMCs from healthy donors were exposed to weakly and strongly allergenic legume proteins. 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. Overall design: PBMCs from five donors were stimulated with 10 µg/mL or 50 µg/mL 2S albumins from lupine (d-conglutin) and peanut (Ara h 2), and 50 µg/mL 7S globulins from white bean and soybean (five replicates per donor).