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Mass Cytometry in Food Allergy Research
Nathalie Acevedo1, Kevin Llinás-Caballero2
1Institute for Immunological Research, University of Cartagena, Cartagena, Colombia. nacevedoc@unicartagena.edu.co.
Insights
Mass cytometry reveals diverse immune cell responses in food allergy. This advanced technique helps identify specific immune cells, like basophils and mononuclear cells, involved in allergic reactions and tolerance.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Biotechnology
Background:
- The precise mechanisms driving food allergies remain largely unknown.
- Understanding immune cell heterogeneity is crucial for developing effective treatments.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the fundamentals of mass cytometry.
- To highlight the contributions of mass cytometry in understanding food allergy, oral tolerance, and immunotherapy.
Main Methods:
- Mass cytometry enables multiparametric analysis of cell surface and intracellular markers using rare metal isotopes.
- Bioinformatic approaches are used to analyze high-dimensional data and define immune cell subpopulations.
Main Results:
- Mass cytometry has uncovered significant heterogeneity in human responses to food antigens.
- Specific subpopulations of basophils and mononuclear cells are implicated in the pathophysiology of food allergy.
Conclusions:
- Mass cytometry is a powerful tool for dissecting the complex immune basis of food allergy.
- This technology aids in understanding oral tolerance, food desensitization, and cellular events during immunotherapy.
Abstract:
Mechanisms underlying food allergy are not well understood. Mass cytometry is a technique that allows the multiple analysis of cell surface markers and intracellular proteins by using the spectrum of rare metal isotopes of different atomic masses without channel overlap. Bioinformatic approaches are implemented to combine and reduce the information of more than 60 parameters to define immune cell subpopulations. To date, mass cytometry has revealed a great heterogeneity in human response to food antigens and that subpopulations of basophils and mononuclear cells might be mechanistically implicated in food allergy. This chapter reviews some fundamentals of mass cytometry and the contributions of this technique in elucidating the immune basis of food allergy, oral tolerance, food desensitization, phenotypes, and the cellular events occurring upon allergen-specific immunotherapy.
