Epitope Mapping of Allergenic Lipid Transfer Proteins

Food allergy is becoming a great problem in industrialized countries. Thus, there is the need for a robust understanding of all aspects characterizing IgE response to allergens. The epitope mapping of B-cell epitopes has the potential to become a fundamental tool for food allergy diagnosis and prognosis and to lead to a better understanding of the pathogenesis. Using this approach, we have worked on epitope mapping of the most important plant food allergens identified in the Mediterranean area. The final aim of this study is to define the immune response regarding B epitopes and its clinical relevance in LTP allergy. This chapter describes the protocol to produce microarrays using a library of overlapping peptides corresponding to the primary sequences of allergenic lipid transfer proteins.