Gene expression data from human myeloid dendritic cells stimulated with peanut protein and other allergens

Peanut protein is a remarkably potent food allergen in susceptible individuals. The frequency of peanut allergy is approximately 1% in the US population. Peanut allergy often presents with severe symptoms, and it is seldom outgrown. We sought to understand how peanut protein activates human dendritic cells, which are crucial in promoting the activation and differentiation of pathogenic peanut-specific Th2 cells that drive allergic responses. Human myeloid dendritic cells (mDC) isolated from buffy coats of non-identified blood bank donors were stimulated for 8h or 24h with peanut protein extract (PN) or with various other food and inhalant allergens, as well as with the positive controls lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and cholera toxin (CT). The other allergens were the purified peanut proteins Ara h 1 and Ara h 2, soybean protein extract (SB), cow's milk protein (CM), birch pollen extract (BP), cockroach allergen extract (CR), and cat dander extract (CD). For each variable, mDC-derived RNA was pooled from either 4 donors (pilot experiment) or 7 donors (main experiment) and analyzed using one gene chip.