I had to write a paper about high affinity IgE receptors last semester and this was my initial draft (or as far as I got before I resigned myself to writing it formally).
Everyone knows what an allergy is and knows at least one person with an allergy; maybe to something harmless like pollen, or a deadly allergy to peanuts. Most people also have a vague knowledge of what causes allergic reactions; a harmless particle or substance enters the body and the immune system has an extreme reaction to it, flooding your body with histamines, and the next thing you know, your throat is closing up and you are reaching for your trusty EpiPen. What the average person cannot tell you are the actual intracellular processes that trigger an allergic immune response.
Meet immunoglobulin E (IgE, for short). IgE is an allergen-specific antibody that is crucial in allergic immune response. After the initial meeting of immune system and allergen, there is no immune response, but the immune system primes itself, in a manner of speaking, by producing IgE antibodies that then attach to receptors on mast cells (in tissue) and basophils in the bloodstream (Lichtenstein, 1993). The next time the allergen enters the body and encounters one of these mast cells or basophils, all it needs to do is attach to two of these IgE antibodies, bringing together their receptors, and the Kraken is released! The enzymes involved in immune response are activated and all of the allergic symptoms you know and love to hate shit fury all over your body as the rest of your immune system follows suit (Lichtenstein, 1993).
But, soft! What protein through yonder basophil breaks?
