Recently, an increased number of mast cells have been reported in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL) of patients with farmer's lung disease. Some authors pointed out the pathogenetic importance of mast cells in farmer's lung on the basis of their correlation with the activity of the disease, with the BAL lymphocyte counts, and with the markers of lung fibrosis. To determine whether BAL reflects...

Mast cell carboxypeptidase A (Mc-cpa) is a highly conserved secretory granule protease. The onset of expression in mast cell progenitors and lineage specificity suggest an important role for Mc-cpa in mast cells. To address the function of Mc-cpa, we generated Mc-cpa-null mice. Mc-cpa-/- mast cells lacked carboxypeptidase activity, revealing that Mc-cpa is a nonredundant enzyme. While Mc-cpa-/-...

The depth of our knowledge regarding mast cells has widened exponentially in the last 20 years. Once thought to be only important for allergy-mediated events, mast cells are now recognized to be important regulators of a number of pathological processes. The revelation that mast cells can influence organs, tissues, and cells has increased interest in mast cell research during liver disease. The...

Mast cell activation releases the mediators associated with type I allergy. As such, the study of mast cell activation is critical for understanding the allergic reaction, and for developing methods to control it. Importantly, another ligand receptor pair (compound 48/80 and MRGPRX2) that activates mast cells in addition to allergen-IgE-FcεRI has been identified. As mast cells mature in tissue ...

Selective differentiation of cells morphologically identical with tissue mast cells at the light microscope level has been described by Ginsburg and Sachs (5) and Ginsburg and Lagunoff (4) in a mouse tissue culture system composed of a C3H feeder layer overplated with horse serum-sensitized C57BI lymphoid cells . Histochemical evaluation indicates that the granules of the tissue culturederived ...

Aim: Mast cells are versatile innate immune cells and are reported to promote vascular inflammation and neointimal lesion formation, thereby contributing to the development of vascular stenosis and atherosclerosis. However, it is not clear whether mast cells also regulate vascular matrix remodelling in established neointima. This study addressed the hypothesis that perivascular mast cells regul...

The precise roles of mast cells in liver allograft rejection and tolerance are still unknown. This study aimed to explore the roles of mast cells in immune regulation and liver regeneration for tolerance induction by using rat models of orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). Stem cell factor (SCF) and its receptor c-Kit, which are critical to the migration and development of not only stem cell...

Mast cells are the major effector cells for immediate hypersensitivity and chronic allergic reactions. These cells accumulate in mucosal tissues of allergic reactions, where immunoglobulin E (IgE) is produced locally. Here we provide evidence that, in addition to antigen that can attract IgE-bound mast cells, the type of IgE molecules that efficiently activate mast cells can promote the migrati...

One of the incapacitating postoperative morbidities that was seen in all types of surgery is Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD). The elder patients and also cardiac surgery patients (CSPs) are at particular risk. Additionally it was shown that the severity, extension of impairment and the incidence rate of POCD is more in CSPs. POCD is a dementia-like symptoms disorder is characterized ...