Esch Robert E
Greer Laboratories, Lenoir, NC, USA.
Clin Rev Allergy Immunol. 2006 Apr;30(2):71-2. doi: 10.1385/CRIAI:30:2:71.
What makes an antigen an allergen? This question has been at the core of much research regarding the basic mechanisms of allergy as well as the development of diagnostic and therapeutic allergen products. Great strides have been made since Kjell Aas asked this question in his classic review in Allergy (1), but we appear no closer to the answer. The mechanisms leading to allergic reactions have been well described in recent years and our understanding of it at the molecular level has greatly improved. Conversely, the molecular structures responsible for these allergic reactions are not as well understood. Techniques for the isolation, identification, and epitope mapping of allergens have greatly enhanced our ability to test old and new ideas about what makes an antigen an allergen. We continue to search for "major allergens," and when we identify them, we hope to delineate "allergenic determinants" and "immunodominant epitopes." Even now, unique structural motifs or determinants responsible for allergenicity have not yet been identified, and we will probably never find them.
是什么使得一种抗原成为变应原？这个问题一直是关于过敏基本机制以及变应原诊断和治疗产品研发的诸多研究的核心。自从凯尔·阿斯在他发表于《过敏》杂志的经典综述中提出这个问题以来，我们已经取得了长足的进步，但我们似乎仍未更接近答案。近年来，导致过敏反应的机制已得到充分描述，我们在分子水平上对其的理解也有了很大提高。相反，引发这些过敏反应的分子结构却没有得到同样深入的理解。变应原的分离、鉴定和表位作图技术极大地增强了我们检验关于抗原如何成为变应原的新旧观点的能力。我们继续寻找“主要变应原”，当我们识别出它们时，我们希望描绘出“变应原决定簇”和“免疫显性表位”。即便到现在，尚未识别出负责变应原性的独特结构基序或决定簇，而且我们可能永远也找不到它们。
