New developments in FcepsilonRI regulation, function and inhibition

Stefan Kraft1, Jean-Pierre Kinet

  • 1Laboratory of Allergy and Immunology, Department of Pathology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Institutes of Medicine 945, 71 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.

The high-affinity Fc receptor for IgE (FcepsilonRI), a multimeric immune receptor, is a crucial structure for IgE-mediated allergic reactions. In recent years, advances have been made in several important areas of the study of FcepsilonRI. The first area relates to FcepsilonRI-mediated biological responses that are antigen independent. The second area encompasses the biological relevance of the distinct signalling pathways that are activated by FcepsilonRI; and the third area relates to the accumulated evidence for the tight control of FcepsilonRI signalling through a broad array of inhibitory mechanisms, which are being developed into promising therapeutic approaches.

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