The biology and pathology of Fc receptors

An interesting property of immunoglobulin molecules is their propensity to bind to cell surfaces. The selective cytophilia exhibited by antibodies turns out to be crucial to many of their physiological functions. Some classes of immunoglobulins bind directly to certain cells in the absence of antigen, such as the binding of IgE to mast cells, while other immunoglobulins bind to cell surfaces as immune complexes that form upon encounters with antigen. The cellular structures that specifically bind immunoglobulin constant regions were first designated Fc receptors by Paraskevas et al. in 1972. The cytophilic nature of antibodies attracted the interest of investigators in the sixties, and since that time there has been an impressive growth in knowledge about its significance and about the nature of Fc receptors (FcR).