ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors focus on main areas of investigation: the way in which immunoglobulin E (IgE) binds to receptor, the way in which IgE-receptor complexes bind multivalent antigen and are crosslinked, and the way in which clustered IgE-receptor complexes interact with other cellular structures to generate a transmembrane signal. They summarize their contributions in the first and third areas and devote somewhat greater attention to more recent results in the second area. Of more basic interest is the possibility that the hypothesized asymmetric structure of the IgE-receptor complex influences the way receptors come together in a triggering configuration. The structural interactions that are most pertinent to the physiological response are those that occur after the IgE-receptors have been crosslinked. Crosslinking of receptors causes interactions with other cellular components and leads to transmembrane signals that turn on as well as turn off the degranulation response.
