Monomeric human IgE evokes a transient calcium rise in individual human neutrophils.

Digital fluorescence calcium imaging was used to investigate and identify the primary biological responses of human neutrophils to monomeric immunoglobulin E (IgE). Treatment of neutrophils with IgE caused a transient rise in the level of intracellular calcium that was inhibited by pertussis toxin. The calcium rise was due mainly to release from an intracellular membrane-enclosed store that is also sensitive to the chemotactic peptide formyl-Met-Leu-Phe. The IgE-induced calcium transient was independent of Fc gamma receptors and of Fc epsilon receptor ligation. Our data suggest that the mere binding of IgE to neutrophils is sufficient to evoke a biological response without the need for IgE/receptor cross-linking.