Phage display as a tool for rapid cloning of allergenic proteins

Allergic diseases represent an immune disorder associated with the production of immunoglobulin E (IgE) against normally innocuous antigens (allergens). Almost 20% of the population in industrialized countries suffer from type I allergic symptoms such as allergic rhinitis, conjunctivitis, urticaria or asthma. Although the mechanisms responsible for these allergic reactions are quite well understood, knowledge about the repertoire of molecules able to elicit type I symptoms is still limited. To clone and characterize entire allergen repertoires from complex allergenic sources in a fast and efficient way, new technologies are required. The phage surface display of cDNA libraries described here has proven to be a versatile cloning system to selectively isolate allergens physically linked to their genetic information. The screening of cDNA libraries displayed on phage surfaces with immobilised serum IgE from allergic patients reduces the time required for the selection of candidate clones to a few weeks. Robot-assisted high-throughput screening of the enriched library provides a fast and cost-effective way to isolate complete allergen repertoires. The biotechnological production of recombinant allergens derived from these sequences bears a high potential for the improvement of the diagnosis of allergic diseases.