AllFam Statistics
| Last update: | 2011-09-12 |
| Allergome version: | 2011-09-06 |
| Pfam version: | 25.0 (March 2011; 12,273 families) |
| Allergens total: | 1091 |
| Allergens with AllFam family assigned: | 995 |
| AllFam families: | 186 |
| Pfam domains in allergens: | 255 (2.1% of all domains) |
The AllFam database is a resource for classifying allergens into protein families. It is based on allergen data from the Allergome database, the currently most comprehensive collection of allergen data, and on protein family data from the Pfam database. Read more about the methods used to generate this database in the section About AllFam.
AllFam is maintained by the Biochemistry and Bioinformatics group, located at the Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research of the Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
Structures of allergens from the prolamin superfamily. A: soybean hydrophobic seed protein (Gly m 1), B: peach non-specific lipid transfer protein (Pru p 3), C: castor bean 2S albumin (Ric c 3), and D: wheat 0.19 α-amylase inhibitor (Tri a 28).
In recent years, it has become clear that most allergens belong to a limited number of protein families. Classifying allergens into protein families can help answering questions such as: What makes a protein an allergen? Which allergens are cross-reactive? However, it has to be kept in mind that (1) not every member of an allergen-containing protein family is allergenic and (2) not all allergenic members of a protein family are cross-reactive.
You can browse lists of allergen families restricted by allergen source (plants, animals, fungi) and route of exposure (inhalation, ingestion, ...) or search for specific protein families. Every allergen family entry is linked to an allergen family fact sheet that contains descriptions of the biochemical properties and the allergological significance of the family members as well as a list of key references related to this family.
For each allergen family, you can browse a list of allergenic members. Each allergen entry is linked to the corresponding record in the Allergome database, where you will find comprehensive biochemical and clinical data as well as a list of literature references related to this allergen.
See also the FAQ section.
Allergens are distributed into few protein families and possess a restricted number of biochemical functions.
J Allergy Clin Immunol 2008, 121, 847-52.
[PubMed] [doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2008.01.025]