Monoclonal antibodies and synthetic peptides define the active site of FcepsilonRI and a potential receptor antagonist.

Defining the structure of the human high-affinity receptor for IgE, Fc,RI, is crucial to understand the receptor:ligand interaction, and to develop drugs to prevent IgE-dependent allergic diseases. To this end, a series of four anti-FcepsilonRI monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), including three new mAbs, 47, 54, and 3B4, were used in conjunction with synthetic FcepsilonRI peptides to define functional regions of the Fc IgE-binding site and identify an antagonist of IgE binding. The spatial orientation of the epitopes detected by these antibodies and their relationship to the IgE-binding region of FcepsilonRI was defined by a homology model based on the closely related FcepsilonRIIa. Using recombinant soluble FcRI-alpha as well as FcepsilonRI-alpha expressed on the cell surface, a series of direct and competitive binding experiments indicated that the mAbs detected nonoverlapping epitopes. One antibody (15-1), previously thought to be located close to the IgE-binding site, was precisely mapped to a single loop within the IgE-binding site by both mutagenesis and overlapping synthetic peptides encompassing the entire extracellular domain. A synthetic peptide epsilonRI-11, containing the amino acids 101-120 and the mAb 15-1 epitope, inhibited IgE binding and may form the basis for the development of a useful receptor-based therapy.

Domain one of the high affinity IgE receptor, FcepsilonRI, regulates binding to IgE through its interface with domain two.

The high affinity receptor for IgE, FcepsilonRI, binds IgE through the second Ig-like domain of the alpha subunit. The role of the first Ig-like domain is not well understood, but it is required for optimal binding of IgE to FcepsilonRI, either through a minor contact interaction or in a supporting structural capacity. The results reported here demonstrate that domain one of FcepsilonRI plays a major structural role supporting the presentation of the ligand-binding site, by interactions generated within the interdomain interface. Analysis of a series of chimeric receptors and point mutants indicated that specific residues within the A' strand of domain one are crucial to the maintenance of the interdomain interface, and IgE binding. Mutation of the Arg(15) and Phe(17) residues caused loss in ligand binding, and utilizing a homology model of FcepsilonRI-alpha based on the solved structure of FcgammaRIIa, it appears likely that this decrease is brought about by collapse of the interface and consequently the IgE-binding site. In addition discrepancies in results of previous studies using chimeric IgE receptors comprising FcepsilonRIalpha with either FcgammaRIIa or FcgammaRIIIA can be explained by the presence or absence of Arg(15) and its influence on the IgE-binding site. The data presented here suggest that the second domain of FcepsilonRI-alpha is the only domain involved in direct contact with the IgE ligand and that domain one has a structural function of great importance in maintaining the integrity of the interdomain interface and, through it, the ligand-binding site.