Comparison of the receptors for IgE of various rat basophilic leukaemia cell lines. I. Receptors isolated by IgE-sepharose and IgE and anti-IgE.

REceptors for IgE of rat basophilic leukaemia (RBL) cells, maintained in different laboratories were isolated by means of IgE-Sepharose or IgE and anti-IgE, and characterized by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. All cell lines were found to be associated with a receptor molecule (R) which could be isolated either with IgE-Sepharose or IgE and anti-IgE and a second receptor (H) which could only be isolated with the aid of IgE-Sepharose. The relative amounts of these two molecules, as isolated from surface iodinated cells, varied from the RBL cell line to the other and their apparent molecular weights were not identical on all cell lines. Since comparisons were made on the same gel using receptors isolated from cells labelled with different isotopes of iodine, differences in molecular weight must be considered as being intrinsic and not due to methodological variations. These results provide an explanation why differences were observed among receptors for IgE as characterized in various laboratories. In spite of the fact that the various RBL cell lines originated from the same chemically-induced tumour they have, over the years, undergone changes which are reflected in the receptors for IgE.