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-/-...

AIM To investigate the role of mast cells in surgical and pathological scar reactions by their identification and quantification using immunohistochemistry. METHODS Surgical scars and pathological scar reactions were stained immunohistochemically for tryptase to identify mast cells. These were quantified in the scar tissue and surrounding dermis. Statistical analyses were performed to test th...

Food can trigger a diverse array of symptoms in food allergic individuals from isolated local symptoms affecting skin or gut to multi-system severe reactions (systemic anaphylaxis). Although we know that gastrointestinal and systemic manifestations of food allergy are mediated by tissue mast cells (MCs), it is not clear why allergen exposure by the oral route can result in such distinct clinica...

When mouse marrow and spleen cells were cultured for over 12 days in methylcellulose containing media conditioned by pokeweed-mitogen-stimulated spleen cells, colonies containing mast cells and blast cells were observed. The characteristic morphology of the colonies and the time course of their development allowed in situ identification of the mast cell colonies. Identification of the mast cell...

Radiation-induced heart disease (RIHD), characterized by accelerated atherosclerosis and adverse tissue remodeling, is a serious sequelae after radiotherapy of thoracic and chest wall tumors. Adverse cardiac remodeling in RIHD and other cardiac disorders is frequently accompanied by mast cell hyperplasia, suggesting that mast cells may affect the development of cardiac fibrosis. This study used...

Mast cells are progeny of the multipotential hematopoietic stem cell (MHSC). Mast cell-committed progenitors (MCPs) leave hematopoietic tissues, migrate in peripheral blood, invade to connective or mucosal tissue, proliferate and differentiate to morphologically identifiable mast cells. Phenotype of mast cells (connective tissue-type or mucosal type) is determined by the site of lodgment of MCP...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effects of mast cell count and angiogenesis on the prognosis of renal cell carcinoma. METHODS The retrospective study was conducted at the Harran University, Sanliurfa, Turkey, and included 64 cases with diagnosis of renal cell carcinoma between 2002 and 2012. Immunohistochemical analysis was performed on paraffin sections using the standard streptavidin-biotin immun...

Mast cells are pivotal effector cells in IgE-mediated allergic inflammatory diseases. Central for mast cell activation are signals from the IgE receptor FcepsilonRI, which induce cell degranulation with the release of preformed mediators and de novo synthesis of proinflammatory leukotrienes and cytokines. How these individual mast cell responses are differentially controlled is still unresolved...

Mast cells are distributed throughout the body, increased proportions are present in the skin, respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract, uterus and urinary bladder but functions of mast cell in health and disease are not well understood. Mast cell granules store wide variety of mediators of inflammation like heparin, histamine, serotonin, 5-HT, various chemotactic factors, slow reacting substa...

Degranulation of isolated, rat peritoneal mast cells in the presence of low density lipoprotein (LDL) induces cholesteryl ester accumulation in cocultured macrophages with ensuing foam cell formation. This event occurs when the macrophages phagocytose LDL particles that have been bound to the heparin proteoglycans of exocytosed granules. In an attempt to inhibit such foam cell formation pharmac...