News

Report on the 7th CK-CARE Team Meeting in 2016

As they do every year, members of the CK-CARE Consortium met in the Davos Congress Centre in September 2016. The meeting was attended by more than 50 participants and a highlight of the research year.
As well as individual reports from the Work Packages and different locations, the focus was primarily on an exchange of experiences and further training. The latter was achieved by organising three workshops with the key topics of “Microbiome”, “Scientific writing” and “Statistics and study design”. All the participants were able to attend all three workshops on a rotation basis and hence benefit from the latest developments in these three selected areas.

Before the dinner in the Restaurant Spina, team members enjoyed a fascinating and entertaining speech by Professor Ring from Munich, who gave the attendees a deep insight into the mysteries of allergy from his perspective and with his special brand of humour. Finally, on a torch-lit walk back from the restaurant, the group was able to reflect again on the many memorable experiences gained in the team meeting.

The annual team meeting is and remains an important element of the scientific exchange, but also the team spirit that exists within the CK-CARE research consortium.

Pollen monitoring online

On 13 September 2016, the Bavarian Cabinet approved the setting up of the world’s first automatic pollen monitoring network (ePIN) as part of the “Bayern Digital” initiative (Press Release 253, Bavarian State Chancellery). The initiative, jointly supported by the two ministries of “Environment and Consumer Protection” (StMUV) and “Health and Care Services” (StMGP), is based on preliminary studies by the Centre for Allergy and Environment (ZAUM) of the Technical University of Munich, a partner of CK-CARE.

The network involves several innovations:

In a pilot study, a maximum network of 27 pollen monitors was set up in Bavaria and operated for a year. These established which locations are sufficient and necessary for determining the pollen count in Bavaria. As Bavaria, can be subdivided into eight pollen count regions, eight stations are sufficient for reliable measuring. This meant that the cost and complexity of pollen monitoring could be reduced.
In a three-year experiment, the suitability of an automated pollen monitor was compared with that of the classic manual method (microscopy). The error rate was equally high but of a different character for the two methods. The greatest error for the automated method was that not all pollens were recognized (if they varied from the classic external appearance) and were consequently classified as “unknown”. As a result of repeated use of the system, the recognition software will automatically improve over time. By contrast, the manual systems have already been optimised and cannot be further improved.

The new system will be set up from 2017 to 2018 and should be running continuously from 2019. Similar efforts are being made in Switzerland, but this favour using the monitor from a Swiss company.

The system has enormous advantages for patients: the pathogens causing the common disease of pollen allergy or “hay fever” (over 80% of allergy sufferers are allergic to pollen) are visualised on line with this system and give patients the opportunity to react specifically to the triggers of their condition, especially since the system allows far more accurate pollen forecasts to be made than in the past.

Paul Ehrlich Award to Cezmi Akdis

The Paul Ehrlich Award 2016 for Improving Experimental Research is awarded to Professor Dr Cezmi Akdis, MD. Cezmi Akdis is the Director of the Swiss Institute of Allergy and Asthma Research (SIAF), Davos, and Professor in the Zurich University Medical Faculty, as well as being one of the Directors of the Christine Kühne Center for Allergy Research and Education (CK-CARE) in Davos.

EUROPEAN ACADEMY OF ALLERGY & CLINICAL IMMUNOLOGY

2015 Annual Report of CK-CARE

Again in 2015 CK-CARE can report successful activities and important results that also have an impact on allergy sufferers. For instance, considerable progress has been made in terms of measuring allergy triggers and environmental influences.

The barrier function of the skin, which is central to protecting against allergy triggers, has been further understood and in studies has been improved in a therapeutically effective way. CK-CARE identified factors that enable at-risk children to be identified and promptly protected against developing allergies. Furthermore, food ingredients were discovered which have a preventive effect and may be used in future to prevent allergies. The education of medical primary care providers, as the second major pillar of CK-CARE activities along with research, has been further expanded and continually improved by thorough evaluation. In 2015 the Global Allergy Forum was held for the third time with great success.

Identification of new effector B cell subgroups and their role in allergic diseases

B cells play an important role in the human immune system because they are the cells that produce antibodies. A research team at SIAF led by Professor Cezmi Akdis (Workpackage 2) recently reported that B cells – apart from their role antibody-producing cells – can function as regulators of the immune response by the production of cytokines. Certain subgroups of B cells were identified which produce specific cytokines. For instance, regulatory B cells produce the anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-10 and are hence able to protect against autoimmune diseases and allergic inflammation.

The aim of this study is to identify new human cytokine-producing B cell subgroups and research their role in immune regulation. B cells cannot be cultured for lengthy periods in vitro. Therefore we suppressed the cell division of the B cells by increasing the production of two specific genes (BCL-6 and BCL-xL). The method of suppressing cell division and increasing the production of certain proteins is known as over-expression. This makes it possible for us to form long-lived B cells. To enable us to characterise individual B cells, we isolated individual cells and generated B cell clones. Then we studied the gene activity of these clones in detail by means of next-generation sequencing (determining the nucleotide sequence of the RNA).

To allow us to identify new effector B cell subtypes that produce specific cytokines, we had to group the individual B cell clones based on their cytokine expression. Using this approach we identified 6 clone groups which expressed specific cytokine profiles, i.e. activated specific cytokines. Some of these cytokine profiles (an expression profile shows what the cell actually does) resembled previously described subgroups of effector B cells, such as the interferon-gamma-producing B cells and the interleukin-10-producing regulatory B cells. Interferon is a protein that exerts an immunostimulating, primarily antiviral effect; interleukin is a cytokine with an anti-inflammatory effect, which inhibits the inflammatory reactions taking place in the body. In addition, we found other clusters with different cytokine profiles, which have not previously been described. At present we are working on carrying out detailed characterisation of these new B cell subgroups so that their potential role in allergic diseases can be assessed.

“Scientific Allergy” magazine – No. 3/2016

With “Scientific Allergy” CK-CARE provides themed issues of the magazine in a loose sequence. These present current findings from allergy research for primary care providers in general practice and paediatric practice. However, “Scientific Allergy” may also be displayed in practices to provide information for patients.

In issue No. 3 you will find, among other items, practical tips on the right course of action in “Anaphylaxis – how to detect anaphylaxis quickly and react correctly” and articles on subjects such as “Allergy prevention – how you can advise parents”, “Allergen-specific immunotherapy – when is ‘hypersensitization’ advisable?”.

It is our declared aim to increase knowledge about allergic diseases. We feel sure that “Scientific Allergy” will inspire people to engage intensely with allergic diseases and utilise advances in research for the benefit of allergy sufferers.