BioCentury
ARTICLE | Preclinical News

ClostraBio identifies gut bacteria species that prevents milk allergy

January 14, 2019 11:52 PM UTC

A team led by Cathryn Nagler, a food allergy professor at the University of Chicago and president and co-founder of ClostraBio Inc. (Chicago, Ill.), has identified a bacterial species that could prevent allergic reaction to milk.

ClostraBio is developing gut microbiome-derived metabolites that could yield a pan-allergen therapy for food allergy. It is based on research from Nagler's lab and other groups suggesting that certain classes of gut bacteria, such as Clostridia, secrete metabolites that promote the formation of a mucus layer in the intestine to block food allergens from crossing the gut barrier into circulation, and that food allergy occurs when individuals lack those bacteria (see "Meta(bolite) Analysis")...