Professor Baofu Qiao Aids in Discovery of Promising Cure for Allergies

Professor Baofu Qiao Aids in Discovery of Promising Cure for Allergies

February 9, 2024

Assistant Professor of Chemistry Baofu Qiao, working with a team of researchers at Northwestern University, has developed the first selective therapy to effectively prevent allergic reactions. These common immune system responses, intimately familiar to nearly 1 in 3 American adults, can range in severity from bothersome hives and watery eyes to trouble breathing and even death. The exciting results of their pilot mouse study were published in January in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

To develop the therapy, the team coated nanoparticles, infinitesimal units of matter, with antibodies capable of shutting down the specific immune cells, or mast cells, that are responsible for allergic responses. The nanoparticles also carry an allergen that corresponds to the patient's specific allergy. If a person is allergic to peanuts, for example, the nanoparticle carries a peanut protein.

"Surprisingly, we found that the surface of the nanoparticles is adaptive. It adjusts its polar and nonpolar domains based on the antibody neighbors," said Qiao, who supervised the atomistic simulation. "The soft surface of the nanoparticles enables the antibodies to preserve their function while targeting specific proteins."

In this two-step approach, the allergen engages the specific mast cells responsible for the allergy, and then the antibodies shut down only those cells. This highly targeted method enables the therapy to selectively prevent specific allergies without suppressing the entire immune system.

In a mouse study, the therapy demonstrated an astonishing 100% success in preventing allergic responses without noticeable side effects.

"Currently, there are no methods available to specifically target mast cells," said Northwestern's Dr. Evan A. Scott, who led the study. "All we have are medications like antihistamines to treat symptoms, and those don't prevent allergies. They counteract effects of histamines after the mast cells already have been activated. If we had a way to inactivate the mast cells that respond to specific allergens, then we could stop dangerous immune responses in severe situations like anaphylaxis as well as less serious responses like seasonal allergies."

"The biggest unmet need is in anaphylaxis, which can be life-threatening," said Northwestern's Dr. Bruce Bochner, an allergy expert and study co-author. "Certain forms of oral immunotherapy might be helpful in some cases, but we currently don't have any FDA-approved treatment options that consistently prevent such reactions other than avoiding the offending food or agent. Otherwise, treatments like epinephrine are given to treat severe reactions - not prevent them. Wouldn't it be great if there was a safe and effective treatment for food allergy that consistently made it possible to reintroduce a food into the diet that you used to have to strictly avoid?"

The implications of the study are vast. Armed with these promising results, the researchers plan to explore their nanotherapy for treating other mast cell-related diseases, including mastocytosis, a rare form of mast cell cancer. They also are investigating loading drugs inside the nanoparticles to selectively kill mast cells in mastocytosis without injuring other cell types.

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