Fc receptor-mediated transport of immunoglobulin across the intestinal epithelium of the neonatal rodent.

In mammals the transmission of maternal immunoglobulin across the foetal and neonatal tissues permits the developing animal to acquire passive immunity while its own immune systems are maturing. In the small intestine of neonatal rodents, immunoglobulin transport is specificfor IgG and there is even discrimination between subclasses of IgG. Here Neill Mackenzie reviews current ideas about the cellular basis for this discrimination.