Scientists are working hard to make pet sneezes and sniffles a thing of the past, and there are promising news from researchers analyzing the potential for a vaccine against dog allergies.
A team in Japan has identified some parts of the molecule that may be responsible for causing an allergic reaction in people when a dog is around.
Once these sections have been isolated, they can be targeted by a vaccine that reduces the immune response they cause. These sections are called epitopes because of the strings of amino acids they contain.
"We want to be able to give the immune system small amounts of the epitopes to train it to fight them," says Inui.
The researchers focused on Can f 1, one of seven dog allergens that have previously been identified and thought to be responsible for 50-75 percent of reactions in people who are allergic to dogs.
The structure of the Can f 1 protein was determined using a technique called X-ray crystallography, which is something that has never been done before.
Key differences between Can f 1 and other similar allergens were identified. These candidates should be narrowed down further by further experimental work.
The structure of Can f 1 is similar to that of other dogs, according to the researchers. The distribution of surface charge on these proteins varies a lot.
For someone with a dog allergy, the epitopes the scientists are looking for can be thought of as being like puzzle pieces that fit with matching pieces constructed by our on immune system. It's looking for the cause of the allergic reaction.
It's hoped that the same process can be used to develop other types of vaccines in the future if scientists can make it happen with regards to dog allergies.
We're still at the very early stages with this, so dog allergy sufferers may have to continue avoiding close contact with pooches for a while, but we could one day look back and see this as the first important step towards a working vaccine.
The researchers say that these allergens can cause severe allergic reactions in 10% of the population.
Dog allergies have become more prominent worldwide as contact between dogs and humans becomes more frequent.
The research was published in a journal.
