Heimo BREITENEDER, PhD
Head of the Division of Medical Biotechnology, Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
Professor of Medical Biotechnology
Education:
PhD: University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
Postdoctoral Training: University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA
Research Interests:
• Chip-based and cell-based diagnosis of allergy
• Mechanisms of allergic sensitization
Biography:
Heimo Breiteneder studied botany and biochemistry at the University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria, and received his doctorate from the University of Vienna. He then worked at the Department of General Biochemistry of the University of Vienna before joining the Department of General and Experimental Pathology of the University of Vienna. There he cloned the world’s first plant allergen, Bet v 1, from birch pollen and discovered the existence of related allergens in pollen of early flowering trees. As a postdoctoral research fellow, he spent two years at the University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona. He then rejoined the Department of General and Experimental Pathology of the Medical Faculty of the University of Vienna and obtained the postdoctoral lecture qualification for the subject area Experimental Pathology as an assistant professor. Breiteneder subsequently became the Head of the Division of Medical Biotechnology at the Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research of the Medical University of Vienna and then Full University Professor of Medical Biotechnology of the Medical University of Vienna. Breiteneder is one of the pioneers of molecular allergology and of the production of recombinant allergens, including the use of plant-based expression systems. He is a member of the WHO/IUIS Allergen Nomenclature Sub-Committee and an Associated Editor of the journal Allergy, the leading journal in this field. Breiteneder is also one of the main proponents of the classification of allergens according to protein families. He and his team have been investigating allergens from pollen, pollen-related plant foods and latex. In the area of animal food allergens, his research group has concentrated on the fish allergen parvalbumin and has shown that bony fish-allergic individuals can tolerate cartilaginous fish. Several publications were also dedicated to investigating the treatment of malignant melanoma. Recent studies have focused on the interaction of allergens and low molecular weight components of allergen sources with bronchial and nasal epithelia cells.
Proposed PhD research project
Advanced molecular diagnosis of tree nut allergies
Selected publications:
- Sudharson S, Eckl-Dorna J, Meshcheryakova A, Basílio J, Derdak S, Kalic T, Lengger N, Schweitzer N, Mechtcheriakova D, Breiteneder H, Hafner C. Transcriptomic profiles of the nasal mucosa following birch pollen provocation differ between birch pollen-allergic and non-allergic individuals. 2024. Allergy. Dec 24. doi: 10.1111/all.16448. Online ahead of print.
- Kalic, T., A. Kuehn, M. Aumayr, J. Bartra, C. Bindslev-Jensen, F. Codreanu-Morel, O. Domínguez, P. Forstenlechner, W. Hemmer, S.D. Kamath, A. Leung, N. Leung, Y. Lifanov, C.G. Mortz, M. Pascal, R. Ristl, M. Sørensen M, Ö. Üzülmez, L. Yeghiazaryan, G. Wong, C. Hafner C, and H. Breiteneder. 2022. Identification of potentially tolerated fish species by multiplex IgE testing of a multinational fish-allergic patient cohort. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. Pract. 10: 3284-3292. doi: 10.1016/j.jaip.2022.08.019.
- Bublin, M., M. Kostadinova, C. Radauer, C. Hafner, Z. Szépfalusi, E. M. Varga, S. J. Maleki, K. Hoffmann-Sommergruber, and H. Breiteneder. 2013. IgE cross-reactivity between the major peanut allergen Ara h 2 and the non-homologous allergens Ara h 1 and Ara h 3. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 132: 118-124. doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2013.01.022.
- Radauer, C., M. Bublin, S. Wagner, A. Mari, and H. Breiteneder. 2008. Allergens are distributed into few protein families and possess a restricted number of biochemical functions. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 121: 847-852. doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2008.01.025.
- Breiteneder, H., K. Pettenburger, A. Bito, R. Valenta, D. Kraft, H. Rumpold, O. Scheiner, and M. Breitenbach. 1989. The gene coding for the major birch pollen allergen, Bet v I, is highly homologous to a pea disease resistance response gene. EMBO J. 8: 1935-1938. DOI: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1989.tb03597.x.
