ABSTRACT
Antibodies are antigen-specific effector molecules produced by the immune system in response to an antigenic stimulation. Fc Receptors (FcR) nomenclature is particularly complicated and unappealing. The reason is that it results from the sedimentation of successive layers of knowledge which accumulated with time, as studies on FcR progressed. One way to penetrate this nomenclature may therefore be to briefly survey FcR history. If, by definition, FcR bind immunoglobulins, this property can be used to visualize FcR on cell membranes. To this end, one can incubate cells with radiolabeled immunoglobulins of a given class and measure radioactivity that remains bound to cells after washing. A decisive step in the description of FcR was the production of monoclonal antibodies against soluble molecules. Monoclonal antibodies confirmed the isotypic specificity of FcR: distinct sets of antibodies recognized specifically FcγR, FceR and FcaR. Knowledge on FcR structure and biology progressed abruptly when cDNAs encoding FcR were cloned.
