Immunoglobulin E (IgE) is the main actor in the drama of allergy. The biological role of IgE in the immune response of an organism and the lack of control leading to allergy is the research topic of Gernot Achatz, Molekular Biology, University of Salzburg. At the 2nd European Congress of Immunology ECI 2009 held in Berlin the scientist presents new data revealing the evolution of IgE.
Allergic diseases have risen dramatically during the last decades. They represent a major health problem, which affects up to one third of the whole population. A prerequisite for the development of effective therapeutic strategies is the detailed analysis of the biological role of IgE and its control mechanisms.
IgE is an evolutionary conserved member of the immunoglobulin (Ig) family. Immunoglobulins are antibodies, which play a key function in immune response. Compared to all other immunoglobulin classes, which are present in concentrations of micrograms to milligrams per ml serum, the titre of IgE is very low (nano- to micrograms per ml range) in plasma of normal healthy individuals and of normal laboratory mouse strains. IgE is most prominent in epitheliae and mucosae where it is bound to specific receptors on highly potent effector cells like eosinophilic granulocytes and mast cells. Bound to these cells IgE has a long half-life (weeks to months), while free in plasma the half-life is very short (~ 6 hours). "This suggests that IgE plays a role in local immune defence mechanisms", says Achatz.