Media Mentions: October 2011
September 2011 October 2011 November 2011
Pre-empting Allergies
October 28, 2011
From Transcript of Podcast:
BASAR BILGICER (University of Notre Dame):
If you inhibit only those antibodies, you will not be inhibiting the rest of the antibodies that are effectively defending your body from pathogens. You will be inhibiting the antibodies that are not supposed to be there.
Inhibiting allergic reactions without side effects
October 17, 2011
"Unlike most current treatments, this approach prevents allergic reactions from occurring in the first place" says Basar Bilgicer, assistant professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Chemistry and Biochemistry and principal investigator in Notre Dame's Advanced Diagnostics & Therapeutics initiative.
Michael Handlogten, lead scientist on the paper and a graduate student in Dr. Bilgicer's group, explained that among the various chemical functionalities he analyzed to be used as the scaffold HBL synthesis, ethylene glycol, an FDA-approved molecule, proved to be the most promising.
Breakthrough Approach to Allergy Treatment
October 13, 2011
"Unlike most current treatments, this approach prevents allergic reactions from occurring in the first place," says Dr. Basar Bilgicer, senior author of the paper and assistant professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Chemistry and Biochemistry and principal investigator in Notre Dame's Advanced Diagnostics & Therapeutics initiative. Michael Handlogten, lead author on the paper and a graduate student in Dr. Bilgicer's group, explained that among the various chemical functionalities he analyzed to be used as the scaffold in HBL synthesis, ethylene glycol, an FDA-approved molecule, proved to be the most promising.
Heterobivalent IgE ligands for the treatment and prevention of allergy
October 13, 2011
In vitro studies suggest heterobivalent IgE ligands could help treat and prevent allergy. The ligands are composed of a hapten linked
to a nucleotide analog, and each component binds to distinct IgE Fab domains. In vitro, a lead ligand prevented allergen binding to
IgE antibodies with an IC50 of 0.45 mM. In an in vitro model of mast cell function, the lead ligand inhibited mast cell degranulation, a
key step in the allergy response, with an IC50 of 15 mM. Next steps include testing whether the ligands can inhibit an allergic response in animals.Researchers engineer new way to inhibit allergic reactions without side effects
October 07, 2011
Researchers from the University of Notre Dame have announced a breakthrough approach to allergy treatment that inhibits food allergies, drug allergies and asthmatic reactions without suppressing a sufferer’s entire immunological system.