Overview

Anaphylaxis is a severe, life-threatening hypersensitivity reaction mediated by Immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies. When IgE binds to allergens, it triggers the release of mediators– histamine, leukotrienes, and prostaglandins from mast cells and basophils. These mediators cause vasodilation, edema, and inflammation, leading to various symptoms.The primary allergens causing anaphylaxis include food items (e.g., peanuts, shellfish), drugs (e.g., penicillin, asparaginase, corticotropin,...

Allergic reactions related to drugs are hypersensitivity responses driven by the immune system and bear no connection to the drug's therapeutic action. While drugs in isolation do not trigger an immune response, they can interact with endogenous proteins to form antigens. These antigens stimulate lymphocytes to produce antibodies. IgE-type antibodies attach themselves to mast cells. Upon subsequent exposure to the same stimulus, the antigen-antibody interaction is initiated, unleashing...

When a solid is dipped inside a liquid, the liquid surface becomes curved near the contact. For some solid–liquid interfaces, the liquid is pulled up along the solid, while for others, the liquid surface is convex or depressed near the solid surface. This phenomenon can be explained using the concept of cohesive and adhesive forces.
The adhesive force is the molecular force between molecules of different materials, that is, between the molecules of the solid and the liquid. The cohesive...

Contact-dependent signaling, as the name suggests, requires that communicating cells be in direct contact with each other. This is achieved either through receptor-ligand interactions or by specialized cytoplasmic channels that allow the flow of small molecules between cells. In animal cells, channels called gap junctions facilitate contact-dependent signaling in certain tissues, whereas, plasmodesmata perform a similar function in plants.
Gap Junctions
In animal cells, gap junctions are formed...

Since the discovery of the two BER pathways, there has been a debate about how a cell chooses one pathway over the other and the factors determining this selection. Numerous in vitro experiments have pointed out multiple determinants for the sub-pathway selection. These are: