FcγRIIB: a modulator of cell activation and humoral tolerance

Abstract

An immune response needs to be tightly regulated to prevent excessive inflammation, which may result in the destruction of healthy tissues. At the molecular level, the strength of an immune response is determined by the integration of a multitude of positive and negative signals. This review will focus on IgG-dependent immune responses and discuss how the inhibitory receptor FcγRIIB may be involved in regulating both the afferent and efferent phases of such a response. Furthermore, we will discuss recent evidence suggesting that FcγRIIB may have important functions beyond the negative regulation of signals transduced by the B-cell receptor or activating FcγRs and could be responsible for the activity of agonistic antibodies in vivo.

Keywords::

• B cell
• humoral tolerance
• IgG
• inhibitory Fc-receptor
• innate immune effector cells
• IVIg

Acknowledgements

We apologize to all our colleagues whose important work could not be directly cited.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

This work was supported by grants from the German Research Foundation (FOR-832, SFB-643, SPP-1468, GK-1660) and the Bavarian Government (BayGene). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.