Definition
Immunoglobulins of the IgE heavy chain isotype that are specific for a given antigen/allergen.
Specific IgE
Allergen-specific IgE is the end product of allergen-specific naïve B cells that underwent class switch recombination (CSR) and plasma cell differentiation. At the plasmablast stage, B cells start secreting immunoglobulins, which reach the circulation. Some of these plasmablasts can become long-lived plasma cells, which reside in tissues (primarily the bone marrow) for many years from where they secrete immunoglobulins. This long-term production of immunoglobulins does not require persistent exposure to antigens (Radbruch et al. 2006). The presence of such long-lived plasma cells is a complicating factor for the treatment of allergies since there is no therapy available that targets these bone marrow resident plasma cells. Therefore, once allergen-specific IgE-producing long-lived plasma cells are generated, there is constant production of allergen-specific IgE that...
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van de Veen, W. (2014). Specific IgE. In: Mackay, I.R., Rose, N.R., Ledford, D.K., Lockey, R.F. (eds) Encyclopedia of Medical Immunology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9194-1_77
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9194-1_77
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