IN PURSUIT OF THE HOLY-GRAIL - RECOMBINANT ALLERGENS AND PEPTIDES AS CATALYSTS FOR THE ALLERGEN-SPECIFIC IMMUNOTHERAPY

This presentation reviews recent progress in knowledge of (i) molecula r biology and immunology of allergens and (ii) the methods for the mod ulation of allergen-specific immune response, with special emphasis on our grass pollen allergens, particularly Pao p IX AL, used as a model . The last few years have seen tremendous progress in molecular charac terization of allergens, leading to synthesis of a number of recombina nt allergens. Furthermore, studies of the structure-activity relations hip of allergens have led to the delineation of the epitopes of these allergens and of widespread cross-reactivities among diverse allergens . In view of the requirement for extensive pre-clinical studies, the a pplication of the recombinant allergens and epitopes in the clinical r ealm has just begun. Studies in murine systems suggest that these alle rgens and/or their epitopic peptides downregulate allergen-specific im mune responses de novo. The potential and drawbacks of the recombinant allergens and peptides for improving the existing immunotherapeutic a pproaches and for developing new approaches to specific immunotherapy are discussed.