Allergin-1（Allergy inhibiotry receptor-1、Allergin-１）
Shibuya Lab
Research Project
Allergy
Type I allergy, such as allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis, asthma, and food allergy can lead to life-threatening anaphylaxis in some cases and are increasing problem. It is often a result of IgE-mediated mast cell (MC) activation. MCs express the high-affinity receptor for IgE (FcεRI), and cross-linking of FcεRI-bound IgE with multivalent allergens (antigen) initiates the activation of MC. This process leads to the release of chemical mediators-containing granules from MC, so called “degranulation”. Thus, to find out the regulatory mechanisms which modulate the FcεRI-mediated MC activating signal is important for the development of therapeutic strategies against allergy.
Our group has identified a previously unannotated Ig-like receptor, Allergin-1. We found that it is highly expressed on MC and has immunotyrosine-based inhibitory motifs (ITIM) in its cytoplasmic region. Coligation of FcεRI with Allergin-1 suppressed IgE-mediated degranulation of MC. Moreover, Allergin-1-deficient mice developed enhanced passive systemic and cutaneous anaphylaxis (Hitomi et al, Nature Immunology, 11: 601, 2010). Thus, Allergin-1 is a promising target molecule for the therapy against allergy.