Overview of the Commonly used Methods for Food Allergens -- Allergen Extraction and Purification from Natural Products: Main Chromatographic Techniques -- Recombinant Allergen Production in E. Coli -- Recombinant Allergens Production in Yeast -- 2D-Electrophoresis and Immunoblotting in Food Allergy -- Two Dimensional Electrophoresis and Identification by Mass Spectrometry (MS) -- Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) -- Detection of Food Allergens by Taqman Real-Time PCR Methodology -- Detection of Food Allergens by Phage Displayed Produced Antibodies -- Protein Microarray-Based IgE-Immunoassay for Allergy Diagnosis -- Basophil Degranulation Assay -- Use of Humanized RS-ATL8 Reporter System for Detection of Allergen-Specific IgE Sensitization in Human Food Allergy -- Assessment of IgE Reactivity of β-Casein by Western Blotting after Digestion with Simulated Gastric Fluid -- IgE Epitope Mapping using Peptide Microarray Immunoassay -- T Cell Proliferation Assay: Determination of Immunodominant T Cell Epitopes of Food Allergens -- Tetramer Guided Epitope Mapping: A Rapid Approach to Identify HLA-Restricted T-Cell Epitopes from Composite Allergens -- T-Cell Epitope Prediction -- An Overview of Bioinformatics Tools and Resources in Allergy -- The Use of a Semi-Automated System to Measure Mouse Natural Killer T (NKT) Cell Activation by Lipid Loaded Dendritic Cells -- Recent Advances in the Detection of Allergens in Foods.

This volume provides a collection of methodologies for basic research, clinical diagnosis, and treatment pertaining to food allergens, including food allergen production, purification, characterization, detection, quantification, and bioinformatics approaches to modern food allergen studies. The chapters in the book are divided into 4 parts: Part I discusses food allergen purification and production, and explores methods of producing recombinant food allergens in bacterial and yeast expression systems; Part II looks at allergen discovery, detection, and quantification covering 3 types of methods-DNA-, protein-, and cell-based methods; Part III focuses on allergenic epitope mapping; and Part IV talks about future developments concentrated around new concepts of allergenicity as an outcome of protein and food matrix interactions. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Cutting-edge and comprehensive, Food Allergens: Methods and Protocols is a valuable resource for immunologists, biochemists, molecular biologists, and medical doctors and students working in the food allergy field. This book is also useful for people in the food industry, legislators, food standard agencies, allergologists, pediatricians, and clinicians in the allergic diseases and immunology fields. .