Research in the field of allergy is our daily activity.

The CAAM research and development lab is located at Sermolab S.r.l. There the experimental procedures are developed and tests are performed on new allergens and new diagnostic systems. All clinical activities performed in the CAAM healthcare network are addressed to the production of scientific data, to acquire new knowledge to be transferred in the routine care as quickly as possible.

Our main research interests are summarized below:

• Identification and immunochemical characterization of high molecular weight allergens.
• Molecular Biology of allergens.
• Characterization and standardization of allergenic extracts.
• Study of cross-reactivity among allergens and among haptens.
• Creation and organization of computerized information systems in biomedicine.
• Epidemiology of allergic diseases.
• Development of new tools for diagnostic laboratory using micro and nanotechnology.
• Qualitative evaluation of diagnostic tools in vivo and in vitro.
• Clinical efficacy and safety of treatments with biologicals.
• Clinical efficacy and safety of specific therapies (vaccines) and not.
• Aerobiology of pollen and molecular allergens.
• Identification and description of low molecular weight allergens.
• Studies on adverse drug reactions having immunological mechanisms.
• Studies of cellular immunity during hypersensitivity diseases.
• Immunopathological mechanisms of Allergic syndromes.
• Regulation of the IgE immunoglobulin class production and their characterization.

The major research projects:

2011 -

INAIL – Dipartimento Medicina del Lavoro (ex ISPESL) - Risposta immunologica e rischio allergologico occupazionale da esposizione ad animali da laboratorio.

2009 - 2010

CRPA SpA - 2009 - P-R_NATURALMENTE FUNZIONALE - Individuazione di componenti e principi nutritivi a valenza funzionale presenti nel formaggio Parmigiano-Reggiano.

2009 -

AllergomeConsumer (www.allergomeconsumer.allergome.org).

2008 -

EU - FAST Project – Towards Safe and Effective Immunotherapy of Persistent Life-Threatening Food Allergies.

2000 -

Creazione, sviluppo e gestione della piattaforma web “Allergome – The Platform for Allergen Knowledge” (www.allergome.org).

2001 - 2005

EU - CREATE Project – Development of certified reference materials for allergenic products and validation of methods for their quantification.

Collaborations

The CAAM has developed and maintained over the time stable partnerships with major research and development centers in Italy and abroad. In details with:

Institute of Bioscience and Bioresources, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Naples, Italy.
The research laboratory is directed by Professor Maria Antonietta Ciardiello. It is one of the reference laboratories in Italy for the study on proteins.
In the laboratory all activities for protein extract preparations from tissues of various allergen sources are performed, as well as the identification and characterization of allergenic proteins including their sequencing, preparing them for subsequent use in diagnostics and for applications in the CAAM research laboratory.
The CAAM researchers are in close contact with leading researchers in the laboratory. Dr. Maurizio Tamburrini, Dr.ssa Lisa Tuppo, and Dr.ssa Ivana Giangrieco, work full-time on research and developments in the field of allergy.
IBBR-CNR is a Platinum Project Partner of the Allergome platform along with ADL, MacroarrayDx, IFARAI and CAAM.
IBBR-CNR is developing partner of the FABER diagnostic test for IgE detection in allergic diseases. In the IBBR-CNR lab exclusive allergenic molecules and verified allergenic extracts are produced, and the quality of materials obtained by other manufacturers is verified.

CAAM maintains a privileged cooperation with the Allergy Data Laboratories s.c. (ADL), which has been transformed in Allergy Data Laboratories S.r.l. during 2017. ADL has created and developed the Allergome website, maintaining it since 2003.

Beyond the Allergome platform, ADL has developed the most important operational tool for the CAAM: the electronic medical record InterAll. This is the only example of a structured database for allergy specialists, which is used for data management, to assist the patient with allergies, and for the collection of scientific data. InterAll is cross-linked with the Allergome web platform from which it receives daily updates, and sends the data collected. InterAll is an essential tool for specialists because it facilitates the reading and evaluation of test results obtained by the multiplexed micro and nanotechnology test, and provides a tool for self-learning and continuous education. InterAll has been developed in six languages, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish, and it automatically generates test reports in eight languages.

ADL, in tight collaboration with CAAM, has developed the "CAAM Digital Reporting System" (CDRS). CDRS is a dynamic tool to visualize the allergy test results. CDRS is an original and unique tool of its kind lacking anything similar released before. After registration and authentication in the CAAM web site reserved area, CDRS allows the patient to visualize the results of performed tests if integrated in the InterAll electronic record. The overall documentation and the comments related to each test result is not static as in a regular paper report or even in a pdf report, but is dynamic, because it is updated daily on the basis of data available or extracted from Allergome, InterAll, and ReTiME databases. CDRS is reachable by any mobile device or computer and represent a fundamental complement of the new FABER diagnostic test for allergy. The CDRS is available in 7 languages.

ADL is a Platinum Project Partners of the Allergome platform along with IBBR-CNR, MacroarrayDx, IFARAI and CAAM.

CAAM supports the scientific activities of the International Fund for Advanced Research in Allergy and Immunology (IFARAI Onlus). IFARAI Onlus is a non-profit organization that aims to support research in the field of allergic and immunologic diseases. The funds are collected annually for supporting young researchers and specific research projects. The project in the most advanced stage of development is AllergomeConsumer which sees the collaboration of IFARAI members as non-profit organization with the technical ADL help and the CAAM specialists. During the last few years IFARAI has been giving its support to research on identification and characterization of new allergenic molecules.
One of the sources of IFARAI Onlus fundraising is the annual donation of 5x1000 using the Italian tax code of IFARAI Onlus 91099790593. Any additional free donation is very welcome.
IFARAI is a Platinum Project Partner of the Allergome Platform along with ADL, IBBR-CNR and CAAM.

Division of Immunopathology, Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research, Center of Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
The research center is directed by Prof. Rudolf Valenta. Historically it represents an international benchmark for molecular biology of allergens. In this research center pollen allergens from birch and grasses have been identified and cloned, and are now used in allergy diagnosis and in immunotherapy (vaccine) trials based on molecules rather than to the extracts.
In different laboratories of this research center genes encoding allergenic proteins are identified and then used for their production in the lab, and their following use, including the manipulation of the sequence/structure, to study the immune response and to establish new hypoallergenic products for future therapies.
CAAM specialists have a long lasting collaboration with the research center of Vienna, in particular with the leaders of specific research lines Dr. Susanne Vrtala, Dr. Birgit Linhart, and Dr. Margit Focke-Tejkl. Prof. Valenta is Chairperson of the Quality Assessment and Standardization Committee of the International Union of Immunological Societies, and a member of the Sub-Committee on Allergen Standardization of the International Union of Immunological Societies.

Department of Molecular Biology, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria.
The research center is directed by Prof. Fatima Ferreira, currently Vice-Chancellor of the University of Salzburg, Austria. In the center has grown up a large group of bright young molecular biologists who have contributed to knowledge on allergens, performing studies on allergenic molecule structures and their function.
CAAM specialists collaborate with the research center of Salzburg since its inception, by identifying common field of interest in the characterization of new inhalant and food allergens. Leading researchers are Dr. Gabriele Gadermaier, Dr. Michael Wallner, Dr. Martin Himly. Prof. Ferreira is vice-chairperson of the Sub-Committee on Allergen Standardization of the International Union of Immunological Societies and member of the Allergen Nomenclature Sub-Committee of the International Union of Immunological Societies.

Department of Experimental Immunology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
The research center is directed by Prof. Ronald van Ree, engaged in allergy research, for over twenty years, first at the Sanquin institute later on at AMC, mainly in the characterization of the allergens, in the epidemiology of allergic diseases, and in the creation of international standards for allergy. He was the organizer and coordinator of the International projects CREATE and FAST, financed by the European Union. CAAM specialists collaborate with the research center in Amsterdam as partner of International studies and clinical characterization of response to cross-reactive allergenic determinants. Prof. van Ree is a member of the Sub-Committee on Allergen Standardization of the International Union of Immunological Societies and of the Allergen Nomenclature Sub-Committee of the International Union of Immunological Societies.

All National and International cooperation of the CAAM:

2014 -

Immunology, Asthma and Allergy Research Institute, Tehran, Iran (Prof. Zahra Pourpak); Dr. Raheleh Shokouhi Shoormasti, EAACI Fellowship 2014 Awardee;

2013 -

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), an institute of the National Institutes of Health, Durham, NC, USA (Dr. Geoffrey Mueller);

2013 -

Lung and Allergy Research Centre, School of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Australia (Dr. Janet Davis);

2012 -

Department of Toxicology and Risk Assessment, National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Søborg, Denmark (Charlotte B. Madsen);

2012 -

Institute of Immunological Research, University of Cartagena, Cartagena, Colombia (Dr. Luis Caraballo);

2012 -

Division of Nutritional Sciences, School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK (Dr. Marcos Alcocer);

2012 -

Immunology, Asthma and Allergy Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Children's Medical Center, Tehran, Iran (Prof. Pourpak and Prof. Moin);

2011 -

Dipartimento di Medicina del Lavoro, Settore Ricerca, INAIL, Roma, Italy (Dr. Maria Concetta D’Ovidio);

2011 -

Institut Pasteur, Département Infections & Epidémiologie, Paris, France (Dr. Pascal Poncet);

2011 -

Centre for Molecular Bioinformatics, Department of Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy (Prof. Manuela Helmer-Citterich);

2011 -

Department of Immunotechnology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden (Prof. Mats Ohlin);

2010 -

Dipartimento di Biologia Applicata, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy (Dr. Gianpiero Marconi);

2010 - 2012

Department of Organic and Industrial Chemistry, University of Parma, Parma, Italy (Prof. Arnaldo Dossena);

2009 -

Unit of Occupational Medicine, Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Verona, Verona, Italy (Prof. Mario Olivieri);

2009 - 2010

Dipartimento di Farmacologia, Università di Milano, Italy (Prof. Patrizia Restani);

2008 -

Centre for Crop Genetic Improvement, Department of Plant Science, Rothamsted Research Harpenden, Herts, UK (Dr. Alison Lovegrove);

2008 -

Research Center Borstel - Division of Molecular and Clinical Allergology, Leibniz – Center for Medicine and Biosciences, Borstel, Germany (Prof. Uta Jappe, Dr. Arnd Petersen);

2008 -

Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York (Prof. Xiu-Min Lin)

2008 -

University of Paranà, Cutiriba, Brazil (Prof. Nelson Rosario)

2008 -

Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA (Prof. Robert Hamilton)

2008 - 2011

ALK-Abello China, Honk Kong, China (Prof. Michael Spangfort)

2008 -

Juntendo University, Tokyo, Japan (Prof. Hidenori Yokoi)

2008 -

Department of Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans (Prof. Samuel B. Lehrer)

2008 -

University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil (Prof. Karla Arruda)

2008 -

Laboratory of Immunogenetics and Allergology, CRP-Santé, Luxembourg (Prof. Annette Kuehn)

2008 -

Department of Immunology, Royal Free Hospital University College London, London, Great Britain (Prof. Bodo Grimbacher)

2008 -

Dipartimento di Agrobiologia ed Agrochimica. Università della Tuscia (Prof. Carla Caruso)

2007 - 2008

Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Tsukuba, Japan (Dr. Norihiro Futamura)

2007 -

Food Allergy Research & Resource Program - University of Nebraska – Lincoln, NE, USA (Prof. Richard E. Goodman)

2007 -

Department of Pathophysiology, Center of Physiology and Pathophysiology, Medical University of Vienna, University of Vienna, Austria (Prof. Erika Jensen-Jarolim)

2007 - 2012

Centro di Allergologia – Complesso Integrato Columbus – Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore – Rome, Italy (Prof. Antonino Romano)

2007 - 2009

Division of Allergology – Paul-Ehrlich-Institute – Langen – Germany (Prof. Stephan Scheurer)

2007 - 2009

Research and Development Department – Allergopharma – Reinbek – Germany (Dr. Andreas Braun)

2006 -

Allergens Department – Centro Nacional de Biopreparados, La Habana, Cuba (Dr. Alexis Labrada)

2006 -

Cellular Immunology Group - Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Switzerland (Dr. Federica Sallusto)

2006 -

Institute for Protein Biochemistry, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Naples, Italy (Dr. Maria Antonietta Ciardiello)

2006 -

Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel (Prof. Francesca Levi-Schaffer)

2005 - 2011

Department of Pathophysiology, Center of Physiology and Pathophysiology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria (Prof. Barbara Bohle)

2005 - 2007

Research & Development Department Laboratorios Leti, Madrid, Spain (Dr. Enrique Fernandez-Caldas)

2005 - 2009

Research & Development Department – VBC-Genomics, Vienna, Austria (Dr. Christian Harwanegg)

2005 - 2007

Clinical Study Department – Ventria Bioscience, Sacramento, CA, USA (Prof. Delia R. Bethell)

2005 - 2009

Research & Development Department - Phadia, Uppsala, Sweden (Dr. Anders Sjolander)

2004 -

Research & Development Department – Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics, LA, USA (Dr. Debra Hovanec-Burns)

2004 - 2010

Biomedicine and Molecular Immunology Institute, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Palermo, Italy (Dr. Paolo Colombo)

2004 -

USDA-ARS-SRRC, New Orleans, LA, USA (Prof. Soheila J. Maleki)

2003 - 2012

Institute of Immunology and Allergology, Inselspital, Bern, Switzerland (Prof. Beda Stadler)

2003 -

Institute of Pathophysiology, University of Vienna, Austria (Prof. Heimo Breiteneder)

2003 - 2009

Institute of Pathophysiology, University of Vienna, Austria (Prof. Karin Hoffman-Sommergruber)

2001 - 2005

Department of Biological Sciences, Functional Genomics Laboratories, University of Singapore, Singapore (Prof. Chew Fook Tim)

2001 - 2008

Institute of Genetics, University of Salzburg, Austria (Prof. Birgit Simon-Nobbe)

2001 -

Christian Doppler Laboratory for Allergy Diagnosis and Therapy Department of Molecular Biology, University of Salzburg, Austria (Prof. Fatima Ferreira)

2000 -

Department of Immunopathology, Academic University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (Prof. Ronald van Ree)

2000 -

Christian Doppler Laboratory for Allergy Research, Division of Immunopathology, Department of Pathophysiology, Center of Physiology and Pathophysiology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria (Prof. Rudolf Valenta)

1984 - 2000

Laboratorio di Immunologia, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Roma (Prof. Giuseppe Vicari e Dr. Carlo Pini)

Thanks to the collaborations of CAAM researchers, the identified allergens have been submitted to the most important database of protein sequences. UniProt is a consortium of prestigious International institutions. Allergome, the web platform dedicated to allergens, created, developed and constantly updated by CAAM researchers, is the only database for allergens cross-referenced in UniProt since 2011.

Allergenic Sequences

The allergenic protein sequences deposited in the UniProt database by CAAM researchers are:

1998 Jun o 4

Calcium-binding protein from Juniperus oxycedrus pollen (mediterranean juniper or coccolone juniper) – O64943

2004 Act c Chitinase_I

Endochitinases from Actinidia chinensis fruit (yellow kiwi) - P86473

2005 Art v 5

Polcalcin from Artemisia vulgaris pollen (Artemisia) - Q2KM81, A0PJ17

2006 Ara h 9

Lipid Transfer Protein from Arachis hypogea seeds (Peanuts) – B6CEX8, B6CG41

2008 Act c 5

Kiwellin from Actinidia chinensis fruit (yellow kiwi) - P85261

2008 Act d 5

Kiwellin from Actinidia deliciosa fruit (green kiwi) - P84527

2008 Act c 10

Lipid Transfer Protein from Actinidia chinensis fruit (yellow kiwi) - P85204

2008 Act d 10

Lipid Transfer Protein from Actinidia deliciosa fruit (green kiwi) - P85205, P85206

2006 Amb a 8

Profilin from Artemisia vulgaris pollen (Mugwort) - Q2KN23, Q2KN24

2006 Amb a 9

Polcalcin from Ambrosia artemisiifolia pollen (Ragweed ) - Q2KN26, Q2KN27

2006 Amb a 10

Polcalcin from Ambrosia artemisiifolia pollen (Ragweed ) - Q2KN25

2008 Car b 1

Bet v 1-like from Carpinus betulus pollen (hornbeam) - B6RQR6, B6RQR7, B6RQR8, B6RQR9, B6RQS0

2008 Que a 1

Bet v 1-like Quercus alba pollen (Oak) - B6RQS1, B6RQS2, B6RQS3

2008 Tri a 39

Serine Proteinase Inhibitor from Triticum aestivum seed (Wheat) - B3FHM6

2009 Cla h 9

Vacuolar serine protease Cladosporium herbarum spores (mould) - B7ZK61

2009 Cla h TCTP

Translationally Controlled Tumor Protein from Cladosporium herbarum spores (mould) - A1KXP4

2009 Art v 3

Lipid Transfer Protein from Artemisia vulgaris pollen (Mugwort) - C4MGH2, C4MGH1, C4MGH0, C4MGG9

2010 Mor n 3

Lipid Transfer Protein from Morus nigra fruit (Black mulberry) - P85894

2010 Ost c 1

Bet v 1-like from Ostrya carpinifolia pollen (hornbean) - E2GL17

2011 Api g 2

Lipid Transfer Protein from Apium graveolens stalks (Celery) - E6Y8S8

2011 Act d 11

RRP from Actinidia deliciosa fruit (green kiwi) - P85524

2011 Tri a 36

Low molecular weight glutenin from Triticum aestivum seeds (wheat) - B2Y2Q7

2012 Pru p 7

Anti-microbial peptide from Prunus persica fruit (Peach) - P86888

2012 Tri a 37

alpha-Purothionin from Triticum aestivum seeds (Wheat) - J7K291

2013 Pru p 7

Peamaclein from Prunus persica fruit (Peach) - P86888

2014 Sola l 6

7k-LTP from Solanum lycopersicum fruit (Tomato) - P86417

2016 Pun g 7

Pomaclein from Punica granatum fruit (Pomegranate) - C0HKC0

2017 Punein

Punein from Punica granatum - C0HKC6