title: Advances in allergen-microarray technology for diagnosis and monitoring of allergy: the MeDALL allergen-chip.
abstract: Allergy diagnosis based on purified allergen molecules provides detailed information regarding the individual sensitization profile of allergic patients, allows monitoring of the development of allergic disease and of the effect of therapies on the immune response to individual allergen molecules. Allergen microarrays contain a large variety of allergen molecules and thus allow the simultaneous detection of allergic patients' antibody reactivity profiles towards each of the allergen molecules with only minute amounts of serum. In this article we summarize recent progress in the field of allergen microarray technology and introduce the MeDALL allergen-chip which has been developed for the specific and sensitive monitoring of IgE and IgG reactivity profiles towards more than 170 allergen molecules in sera collected in European birth cohorts. MeDALL is a European research program in which allergen microarray technology is used for the monitoring of the development of allergic disease in childhood, to draw a geographic map of the recognition of clinically relevant allergens in different populations and to establish reactivity profiles which are associated with and predict certain disease manifestations. We describe technical advances of the MeDALL allergen-chip regarding specificity, sensitivity and its ability to deliver test results which are close to in vivo reactivity. In addition, the usefulness and numerous advantages of allergen microarrays for allergy research, refined allergy diagnosis, monitoring of disease, of the effects of therapies, for improving the prescription of specific immunotherapy and for prevention are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Division of Immunopathology, Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research, Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lupinek
authors.affiliation: Division of Immunopathology, Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research, Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wollmann
authors.affiliation: Division of Immunopathology, Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research, Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Baar
authors.affiliation: Division of Immunopathology, Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research, Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Srinita
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Banerjee
authors.affiliation: Division of Medical Biotechnology, Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research, Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Heimo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Breiteneder
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: Barbara M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Broecker
authors.affiliation: Division of Medical Biotechnology, Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research, Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Merima
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bublin
authors.affiliation: Division of Immunopathology, Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research, Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Mirela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Curin
authors.affiliation: Division of Immunopathology, Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research, Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Flicker
authors.affiliation: Division of Immunopathology, Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research, Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Tetiana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Garmatiuk
authors.affiliation: Division of Immunopathology, Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research, Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Heidrun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hochwallner
authors.affiliation: Division of Immunopathology, Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research, Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Mittermann
authors.affiliation: Division of Immunopathology, Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research, Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pahr
authors.affiliation: Division of Immunopathology, Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research, Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Yvonne
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Resch
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Kenneth H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Roux
authors.affiliation: Division of Immunopathology, Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research, Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Bharani
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Srinivasan
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stentzel
authors.affiliation: Division of Immunopathology, Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research, Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vrtala
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Leanna N
authors.initials: LN
authors.lastname: Willison
authors.affiliation: Sachs' Children's Hospital, Södersjukhuset, Stockholm, Sweden; Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Magnus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wickman
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Oslo University Hospital, The University of Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Karin C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Lødrup-Carlsen
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), IMIM (Hospital del Mar Research Institute), Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Departament de Ciències Experimentals i de la Salut, CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Josep Maria
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Antó
authors.affiliation: University Hospital of Montpellier, Hôpital Arnaud de Villeneuve, Montpellier, INSERM 1018, Villejuif, France.
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bousquet
authors.affiliation: Upper Airways Research Laboratory, University Hospital Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Claus
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bachert
authors.affiliation: Phadia Multiplexing, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ebner
authors.affiliation: Phadia Multiplexing, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schlederer
authors.affiliation: Phadia Multiplexing, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Harwanegg
authors.affiliation: Division of Immunopathology, Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research, Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria. Electronic address: Rudolf.valenta@meduniwien.ac.at.
authors.forename: Rudolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Valenta
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000485:Allergens / Q000276:immunology*; D000818:Animals; D002138:Calibration; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000097:blood; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D007167:Immunotherapy; D040081:Protein Array Analysis; D058996:Quality Improvement; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D007073:Immunoglobulin E
keywords: Allergen-microarray; Allergy-diagnosis; Blocking antibodies; Immunoglobulin E; Immunoglobulin G; Recombinant allergen; Sensitivity