Heimo BREITENEDER, PhD

breitenederHead, Division of Medical Biotechnology, Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research
Professor of Medical Biotechnology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria

Education:
PhD: University of Vienna, AT
Postdoctoral Training: University of Arizona, AZ

Research Interests:
• Interactions of allergens with the innate immune system
• Evolution of allergenic proteins

Biography:
Heimo Breiteneder is a Professor of Medical Biotechnology at the Medical University of Vienna and Head of the Division of Medical Biotechnology at the Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research at the Medical University of Vienna. He obtained his Ph.D. degree from the University of Vienna, Austria. Prof. Breiteneder is also the Chair of the WHO/IUIS Allergen Nomenclature Sub-Committee. His early efforts to obtain the coding sequences of tree pollen and cross-reactive plant food allergens eventually lead to a well-accepted classification system of allergens based on protein family membership that he developed together with his colleague C. Radauer. Prof. Breiteneder is author or co-author on numerous publications on pollen, plant and animal food allergens. Within these protein families as a frame of reference, he now studies allergens and related non-allergenic proteins for their immunologic and biologic properties. Of current particular interest to H. Breiteneder and his team is the interaction of allergens with the innate immune system and how they induce dendritic or epithelial cells to polarize the T helper cell response.

Proposed PhD research projects:
1) Expression of the peanut allergens Ara h 2 and Ara h 6 in N. benthamiana plants  
2) Induction of signal transduction pathways in epithelial cells by allergenic parvalbumins

Selected publications:

  1. Bublin, M., M. Kostadinova, C. Radauer, C. Hafner, Z. Szépfalusi, E. M. Varga, S. J. Maleki, K. Hoffmann-Sommergruber, and H. Breiteneder H. 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. Mar 2. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 23465659
  2. Chruszcz, M., S. J. Maleki, K. A. Majorek, M. Demas, M., Bublin, R. Solberg, B. K. Hurlburt, S. Ruan, C. B. Mattison, H. Breiteneder, and W. Minor. 2011. Structural and immunologic characterization of Ara h 1 – a major peanut allergen. J. Biol. Chem. 286(45): 39318-39327. PMID: 21917921
  3. Smole, U., S. Wagner, N. Balazs, C. Radauer, M. Bublin, G. Allmaier, K. Hoffmann-Sommergruber, and H. Breiteneder. 2010. Bet v 1 and its homologous food allergen Api g 1 stimulate dendritic cells from birch pollen-allergic individuals to induce different Th-cell polarization. Allergy 65:1388-1396. PMID: 20557297
  4. Radauer, C., P. Lackner, and H. Breiteneder. 2008. The Bet v 1 fold: an ancient, versatile scaffold for binding of large, hydrophobic ligands. BMC Evol. Biol. 8: 286. PMID: 18922149
  5. 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. PMID: 18395549

Other Publications extlink