Investigation about the appearance of epitopes in milk protein variants, their allergenicity and potential use in human nutrition.

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Within the caseins and whey proteins, a wide range of genetic variants have been described for cow but also for other species (sheep, goat, water buffalo, camel). Milk protein variants are an important aid in animal breeding and are already included in breeding strategies. However, their importance regarding human nutrition and in particular the allergenic potential has not yet been adequately exploited. The results of the first phase of the project showed that the genetic polymorphism influence the arising peptide pattern of several casein variants and thus modifications in their allergenic epitopes occurred. Furthermore, it could be demonstrated by means of microarray immunoassay and sera from cows milk allergic patients that milk protein variants differ in their allergenic potential. With the renewal proposal, the analyses of gastrointestinal digestion and allergenicity should be extended to the beta-lactoglobulin variants A, B and C, which have been identified within the screening of the different breeds during the first phase of the project. There is an increasing interest in the use of milk from other species as an alternative protein source for patients with cows milk allergy. Thus, in addition to the epitopes of milk proteins from cow, the corresponding epitopes of casein and whey protein variants from sheep, goat, water buffalo and camel should be included in the microarray immunoassays to determine differences in the allergenicity between these species and to examine the influence of the genetic polymorphism on the IgE-binding properties of these epitopes.