The vaccine against allergy to dogs, closer

There is nothing more frustrating for an animal lover than suffering from allergies and not being able to get close to them. But the vaccine could come sooner than we think …

The allergy to dogs It is an ailment that is growing throughout the world, like most allergies in general.

It is not serious, but it is a huge frustration for people who like animals, want to have one at home, and cannot.

Now a group of Japanese scientists has identified the crystal structure of a protein which is key to make a vaccine against allergy to dogs, as he explains Osaka University.

Over the years, scientists have identified seven different canine allergens, that is, molecules or molecular structures that bind to an antibody and produce a very strong immune response, causing allergy problems.

These allergens are called Canis family allergens 1 to 7 (Can f 1-7). However only one of them, the Can f 1, is responsible for between 50-75% of all allergic reactions in humans, regarding dogs.

The key to finding a vaccine is in identify the IgE epitopes of Can f 1, that is, short sequences of amino acids that are part of a protein that produces the strong immune response of allergy sufferers.

“We want to be able to present small doses of these epitopes to the immune system to train it to deal with them, similar to the principle on which any vaccine is based.“explains Takashi Inui, allergy research specialist, professor at Osaka Prefectural University and lead author of the study

“But we cannot do this without first identifying the IgE epitope of Can f 1“, he concludes.

These Japanese researchers have used X-ray crystallography to reveal, for the first time, the structure of the Can f 1 protein.

It is almost identical to 3 other canine allergens, but with very specific changes. It is in these changes that the IgE epitope that would be used to make a vaccine against allergy to dogs.

They have limited so much that they are convinced that they can achieve it.

If it is finally obtained, the best of all is that the way to get it it could be applied to other different allergies, to obtain their respective vaccinations.