The interaction of IgE with rat basophilic leukemia cells. I. Evidence for specific binding of IgE.

A rat basophilic leukemia cell line originally described by Eccleston et al. (3) has been successfully transplanted into eight Wistar strains and adapted to suspension cell culture without noticeable morphological changes. The cells deplete the reaginic activity of mouse and rat immune sera to an extent roughly equivalent to that reported for normal rat mast cells. Studies utilizing radioiodinated antilight-chain antibodies and radioiodinated partially purified rat IgE indicate that the cells bind IgE to their surface membrane with high specificity. Heating or mildly reducing the rat IgE destroyed its binding activity. The binding is unaffected by the presence or absence of Ca(++) and Mg(++), and is markedly inhibited by reaginic but not by normal rat or mouse serums. The affinity of these cells for human IgE, if present at all, is substantially lower than for rat IgE.