Patent ID: 7329498

Claim:
A method of reducing the allergenicity of a protein comprising the steps of: (a) identifying a T-cell epitope in said protein comprising the steps of: (i) obtaining from a solution of dendritic cells and a solution of naïve CD8+ T-cells from a single human blood source; (ii) differentiating said dendritic cells, in said solution of dendritic cells, to produce a solution of differentiated dendritic cells; (iii) preparing a pepset of peptides from said protein, wherein said pepset comprises said T-cell epitope; (iv) combining said solution of said CD8+ T-cells and anti-CD40 antibody to provide a T-cell and antibody solution, (v) exposing said differentiated dendritic cells and said pepset to said T-cell and antibody solution; and (vi) measuring the proliferation of said T-cells in said step (e); and (b) modifying said protein to neutralize said T-cell epitope such that the modified protein induces less than or substantially equal the baseline proliferation of said naïve T-cells, and wherein the allergenicity of said protein is reduced.