Regulation of Fc[epsilon]RI Expression on Monocytic Cell Lines

From Molecular Science to the Treatment of Allergy Sorry, there is no abstract. Read the first few lines of the text instead! The high affinity receptor for IgE, Fc[epsilon]RI, as one of the key structures involved in allergic inflammation [reviewed in 1] has become a focus of immunological research. Human Fc[epsilon]RI expression, initially thought to be limited to mast cells and basophils as an [alpha][beta][gamma][gamma] Fc[epsilon]RI complex, has now clearly been demonstrated on Langerhans' cells, dendritic cells and monocytes [reviewed in 2]. On these cells, however, the lack of [beta]-chain protein from the Fc[epsilon]RI complex is held responsible for structural and functional differences [2, 3]. The recent establishment of Fc[epsilon]RI-expressing human monocytic cell lines [4, 5] allows for the confirmation of experiment results, obtained in the 'classical' Fc[epsilon]RI model, the rat basophilic leukemia cell.