Toxicology of protein allergenicity: Prediction and characterization

The ability of exogenous proteins to cause respiratory and gastrointestinal allergy, and sometimes systemic anaphylactic reactions, is well known. Wha t is not clear however, are the properties that confer on proteins the abil ity to induce allergic sensitization, With an expansion in the use of enzym es for industrial applications and consumer products, and a substantial and growing investment in the development of transgenic crop plants that expre ss novel proteins introduced from other sources, the issue of protein aller genicity has assumed considerable toxicological significance. There is a ne ed now for methods that will allow the accurate identification and characte rization of potential protein allergens and for estimation of relative pote ncy as a first step towards risk assessment. To address some of these issue s, and to review progress that has been made in the toxicological investiga tion of respiratory and gastrointestinal allergy induced by proteins, a wor kshop, entitled the Toxicology of Protein Allergenicity: Prediction and Cha racterization, was convened at the 37(th) Annual Conference of the Society of Toxicology in Seattle, Washington (1998). The subject of protein allerge nicity is considered here in the context of presentations made at that work shop.