This event was sponsored by the HESI Protein Allergenicity Technical Committee (PATC).
Workshop on the Molecular and Genetic Basis of Potential Unintended Effects in Modified Plants
April 14, 2015
Paris, France
The PATB is committed to advancing the scientific understanding of the relevant parameters defining allergenic proteins and protein toxins, and encouraging the development of reliable and accurate methodologies for characterizing the allergenic potential of novel proteins in order to leverage the potential of bioinformatics approaches in accomplishing these efforts.
Renaming the Committee: PATC to PATB
Formerly the Protein Allergenicity Technical Committee (PATC), the committee has adopted a new designation, the Protein Allergens, Toxins and Bioinformatics (PATB) Committee, to embrace a broader scope, expertise, interests, and collaborators in the fields of bioinformatics and protein toxins, while strengthening its core focus in allergenicity.
This research project aims to study the impact of food matrices on the digestibility of proteins and complements the work completed on digestibility in vitro models, by testing whether protocols that take matrices into account would provide a better discrimination of allergens and nonallergens than protocols focusing on purified proteins in solution. In 2020, the experimental work was concluded. The data are being analyzed and a publication is planned in 2021.
The goals of the task force are to (1) investigate approaches for identifying protein toxins and (2) suggest specific guidelines to identify new protein toxins. In 2019, the task force undertook a literature review to identify current approaches being used and leading experts in the topic to design the workshop held in 2020. The workshop covered recent advances in protein toxins biology, described the use of computational biology for protein toxins identification and characterization with in silico approaches, and discussed the applicability of existing tools and resources for safety assessment of novel food biotechnology products.
This working group aims to examine application of an in vitro protocol for identifying specific T-cells and antibodies from nonallergic and allergic patients to pairs of proteins from the same protein family but with different allergenicity. After some delays in the anticipated start date due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the project officially received the green light from the leading institution, Copenhagen University Hospital at Gentofte (Copenhagen, Denmark) in late 2020.
Development and annual update of a database of protein allergen sequences is ongoing. The sixth version of the database was released in January 2022. Throughout the year, the team re-initiated and conducted the 10-month-long process leading to the next annual update of the COMPARE Database which contains 2,463 allergen sequences. Visit COMPARE at https://comparedatabase.org for more details.
Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam
Bayer CropScience
April 14, 2015
Paris, France
This event was sponsored by the HESI Protein Allergenicity Technical Committee (PATC).
Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology, 2022
The HESI Protein Allergens, Toxins, and Bioinformatics Committee, and the Society of Toxicology Food Safety Specialty Section co-hosted a virtual workshop titled “From Protein Toxins to Applied Toxicological Testing”. Key outcomes of the workshop are highlighted here.
Frontiers in Allergy, 2021
The availability of databases identifying allergenic proteins via a transparent and consensus-based scientific approach is of prime importance to support the safety review of genetically-modified foods and feeds, and public safety in general. Over recent years, screening for potential new allergens sequences has become ...
Clinical and Translational Allergy, 2018
Susceptibility to pepsin digestion of candidate transgene products is regarded an important parameter in the weight-of-evidence approach for allergenicity risk assessment of genetically modified crops. It has been argued that protocols used for this assessment should better reflect physiological ...
Frontiers in Plant Science, 2018
Soybean (Glycine max) is an important food stock, and also considered an allergenic food with at least eight well characterized allergens. However, it is a less prevalent allergen source than many other foods and is rarely life-threatening. Soybean is incorporated into commonly consumed foods, and therefore, the allergens pose ...
Scientific Reports, 2017
Proteins are fundamental to life and exhibit a wide diversity of activities, some of which are toxic. Therefore, assessing whether a specific protein is safe for consumption in foods and feeds is critical. Simple BLAST searches may reveal homology to a known toxin, when in fact the protein may pose no real danger.
Bioscience, Biotechnology, Biochemistry, 2016
In rice, several allergens have been identified such as the non-specific lipid transfer protein-1, the α-amylase/trypsin-inhibitors, the α-globulin, the 33 kDa glyoxalase I (Gly I), the 52–63 kDa globulin, and the granule-bound starch synthetase. The goal of the present study was to define optimal rice extraction and ...
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