ANALYSIS OF ALLERGEN-SPECIFIC T-CELL RESPONSE IN HEN'S EGG ALLERGIC CHILDREN

Abstract

The role of antigen-specific T cells in the allergic reactions to hen's egg or in the induction of tolerance hasn't been fully investigated. This time, we performed transcriptome analysis of allergen specific T cells from hen's egg allergic patients to clarify these issues and to identify biomarkers of hen's egg allergy. By using microarray technology, allergen-stimulated T cells from hen's egg-allergic children were analyzed to identify genes that are specifically up-regulated in these cells. In microarray analyses of allergen-stimulated T cells, 43 genes were up-regulated in hen's egg-allergic children but not in non-hen's egg-allergic children. Among the up-regulated 43 genes, cytokine inducible SH2-containing protein (CISH) in patients was significantly higher than controls (p<0.01) in real-time PCR confirmation. CISH may function as a diagnostic bio-maker for hen's egg allergy.