Milk proteome and human health

Topic 1. Transport efficiency of intensely heated antigens in the intestine.

Food allergy is an adverse health effect arising from a specific immune response. It occurs reproducibly on exposure to a given food. The prevalence of food allergy is more than 1-2% but less than 10% of the population. Cow’s milk is one of the leading causes of food allergy especially in infants. However, most studies have shown the prognosis of developing immune tolerance to cow’s milk to be good, with the majority outgrowing their allergy by the age of 3 years. It was reported that intensely heated (baked) milk products contribute to the development of immune tolerance to cow’s milk allergens. Also the process of outgrowing CMA can be accelerated by adding intensely heated milk into patients’ diets . The mechanism behind this observation and the effective componds in heated milk that contribute to immune tolerance are largely unknown.
Short description
Heat treatment of ß-lactoglobulin (BLG) in dry station resulting in aggregation of the protein. As a result, the uptake of protein allergens in intestine will be affected. This project will compare the in vivo transcytosis efficiency between heated and unheated samples. Different groups of samples will be labelled with FITC. Caco-2 cells will grow in lab and be incubated with labelled protein samples. Then the transcytosed proteins will be quantified.

Aim

Compare transcytosis efficiency between heated and unheated samples using Caco-2 cells.

Topic 2. Impact of intense dry heat treatment on the antigenicity of ß-lactoglobulin (BLG).

The structures of BLG will be changed during dry heat treatment. Consequently, the conformational structures and epitopes of BLG will be changed. On the other hand, some of the epitopes initially hided inside the global structure of BLG may become exposed and could be more easily approached by antibody. The effects of heat treatment on antigens vary in different allergens. This project will measure the antigenicity of heated and unheated samples using ELISA method.
Aim

Study the influence of dry heat treatment on the antigenicity of BLG.

For more information on these topics please contact Fahui Liu.