Oat protein as a sustainable protein source: Structure-function characterization and utilization in novel applications

全球对蛋白质成分的需求正在上升，燕麦蛋白因其良好的营养特性而重新受到关注。然而，与燕麦蛋白质消费有关的主要问题之一是其潜在的过敏原，从而导致与乳糜泻（CD）相关的免疫应答。鉴于全球CD发病率的增加，特别是在加拿大，必须了解燕麦蛋白的腹腔过敏原性，以开发腹腔安全的燕麦蛋白成分。鉴于我的分析技术背景，如蛋白质过敏原的定量质谱分析，我唯一的定位，以调查燕麦的腹腔过敏原，一个尚未被广泛研究的领域，从而获得新的基础信息，这将大大推进我们对燕麦中腹腔疾病引发蛋白质的认识。 长期目标：建立一个框架，以促进对谷物过敏原的准确检测和定量，并发展基础知识，以开发对所有消费者安全的谷物成分。在未来5年内，NSERC发现研究计划的短期目标是探索燕麦蛋白腹腔抗原性如何在不同燕麦品种中变化，并确定降低燕麦腹腔抗原性的策略。具体目标是：（i）开发一种有效的基于串联质谱的方法，用于定量分析燕麦中的腹腔抗原表位，并确定不同燕麦品种之间腹腔抗原性的变异性。（ii）当基于疏水性分离时鉴定特定的燕麦蛋白质级分，并确定不同蛋白质级分的腹腔抗原性（iii）开发新的蛋白质修饰方法以减少不同品种中腹腔抗原表位的量，目标是开发腹腔安全的燕麦蛋白质分离物。随着通过稳健和高灵敏度的蛋白质组学技术定量分析燕麦蛋白腹腔过敏原性的新知识的获得，该项目将为确定燕麦以及其他谷物中的过敏原性开辟前景。拟议的计划还将提供有关我们如何利用燕麦蛋白质化学的自然变化来开发低过敏性和安全供所有消费者食用的燕麦蛋白质成分的见解。通过揭示如何操纵蛋白质分子结构以降低燕麦蛋白腹腔过敏原性，该计划将在低过敏性蛋白质成分开发领域开展新的研究。总体而言，拟议的工作也将有利于加拿大粮食生产和加工业，确定如何生产对所有消费者安全的蛋白质成分。

The demand for protein ingredients is rising globally, and oat protein has gained renewed interest due to its favorable nutritional profile. However, one of the main concerns in relation to oat protein consumption, is its allergenic potential to illicit the immune response associated with celiac disease (CD). Given the increasing incidence of CD globally, and especially in Canada, it is imperative to understand the celiac allergenicity of oat protein to develop celiac-safe oat protein ingredients. Given my background in analytical techniques such as mass spectrometry in the quantitation of protein allergens, I am uniquely positioned to investigate the celiac allergenicity of oat, an area that has not been extensively studied, thereby gain novel foundational information that will greatly advance our knowledge about celiac disease initiating proteins in oat. Long-term goal: Build a framework that would facilitate the accurate detection and quantitation of grain-based allergens and develop the fundamental knowledge that would lead to the development of grain-based ingredients that are safe for all consumers. The short-term goals of this proposed NSERC Discovery research program over the next 5 years are to explore how oat protein celiac antigenicity varies across diverse oat cultivars and determine strategies to reduce the celiac antigenicity of oat. The specific objectives are: (i)Develop a validated tandem mass spectrometry-based method for the quantitative analysis of celiac epitopes in oat and determine the variability of celiac antigenicity among diverse oat cultivars. (ii)Identify specific avenin protein fractions when separated based on hydrophobicity, and determine the celiac antigenicity of the different protein fractions (iii)Develop novel protein modification approaches to reduce the amount of celiac epitopes in diverse cultivars with the goal of developing celiac-safe oat protein isolates Impact of the research program: With the acquisition of new knowledge regarding quantitatively analyzing oat protein celiac allergenicity through robust and highly sensitive proteomics techniques, the proposed program will open prospects in determining the allergenicity in oat as well as other grains. The proposed program will also provide insights as to how we could exploit the natural variation in oat protein chemistry to develop oat protein ingredients that are hypoallergenic and safe for consumption by all consumers. By way of unravelling how protein molecular structure can be manipulated to reduce oat protein celiac allergenicity, the proposed program will spearhead novel research in the area of hypoallergenic protein ingredient development. Overall, the proposed work will also benefit the Canadian grain production and processing industry by determining how to produce protein ingredients that are safe for all consumers.