Fruit Allergies, New Emerging Allergens

Dear Colleagues,

The increasing consumption of fruits, often from tropical/sub-tropical countries, has given rise to food allergic responses with diverse outcomes depending on the people, from a simple oral syndrome up to severe anaphylactic responses. In addition, seeds occurring in fruits are an important source of allergens that essentially correspond to the potentially dangerous seed storage 2S albumins and 7S or 11S globulins. The main families of fruit and vegetable allergens have been characterized as lipid transfer proteins (LTP), thaumatin-like proteins (TLP), and various allergens with enzymatic properties (chitinases, glucanases, proteases). Moreover, fruits and vegetable contain profilins and PR10 Bet v 1-like proteins that are associated to the pollen-food allergy syndrome of fruits from the Rosaceae and Cupressaceae. Moreover, an increasing number of newly characterized allergens from fruit are proposed every year.

This Special Issue is aimed at: 1) making an inventory, as exhaustive as possible, of the different families of fruit allergens, including seed allergens from fruits; 2) reporting their main structural and physico-chemical characteristics; 3) illustrating their implication in anaphylactic reactions; 4) reporting the main IgE-binding cross reactivities and, eventually, the crossed allergic reactions, they can cause. New emerging fruit allergens should be emphasized. 

The study of fruit allergens should benefit from the progress made in the fields of  genome sequencing (multiplicity of allergens expressed in fruits, allergen isoforms, new allergens) and ligand-allergen interactions (effects of small ligand molecules on the allergenicity of fruit, e.g., LTP, and relationship between food allergy and innate immunity). 

Both Review and Articles are solicited, dealing with all aspects of fruit allergies and allergens, which include: 

• Overview of edible fruits;
• Structural and physico-chemical properties of the main families of fruit allergens, including seed allergens from fruits;
• Allergen repertoire of the currently consumed fruits;
• Emerging fruit allergens/allergies;
• Fruit allergens as causative agents of IgE-binding cross reactivities and/or crossed allergies;
• Diagnosis and treatment of fruit allergies.

Prof. Dr. Pierre Rougé
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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• allergen
• chitinase
• cupin
• fruit allergy
• gibberellin-related proteins
• innate immunity
• latex-fruit syndrome
• lipid transfer protein
• pollen-food allergy syndrome
• PR5 Thaumatin-like protein
• PR10 Bet v 1-like protein
• profilin
• glucanase
• peptidase
• peroxydase
• polygalacturonase