A previously unrecognized subunit of the receptor for immunoglobulin

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Abstract
Under conditions that stabilize the interaction between the .alpha. and .beta. subunits of the IgE receptor [in rat basophiliz leukemia cells] 2 new components were recovered having apparent MW of 45,000 and 20,000, respectively. The 20-kDa [KiloDalton] material is characterized by demonstrating that it consists of a disulfide-linked dimer of 10-kDa polypeptides and that these have all the characteristics expected for subunits of the receptor. It is proposed that they be termed .gamma. chains and that the receptor consists of 4 chains: 1 .alpha., 1 .beta. and 2 .gamma. chains. The .gamma. chains share many of the labeling properties of the .beta. chain and, like the latter, are likely to be embedded in the plasma membrane and exposed on the internal but not the external surface of the bilayer.