Jeffrey SoRelle Finds Genes for Multi-food Allergies
Jeffrey SoRelle M.D. reports the identification of genetic mutations associated with multi-food allergies. In a study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology he describes the identification of rare coding variants in individuals with at least two food allergies, and their family members. They found loss of function variants in nearly 40% of the probands. The most frequent variants were in FLG, which encodes profillagrin, a key protein required for proper keratinization and maintenance of the skin barrier. Although FLG was already recognized as a food allergy susceptibility gene, this work revealed additional previously undescribed mutations. Other implicated genes included SMAD3, which is involved in TGFbeta signaling, and IFIH1 (which encodes MDA5), a cytoplasmic viral RNA sensor.
