Bioinformatic Methods for Allergenicity Assessment Using a Comprehensive Allergen Database

An evaluation of a protein by the FASTA algorithm is the most predictive of a clinically relevant cross-reactive allergen. An additional search for matches of 8 amino acids may provide an added margin of safety when assessing the potential allergenicity of a protein, but a search with a 6-amino-acid window produces many random, irrelevant matches.