Abstract
Basophils are the least common type of granulocyte and they account for less than 1% of peripheral blood leukocytes. Because of this minority status and a phenotype that is similar to mast cells, basophils have often been neglected in immunological studies or considered to have minor, redundant roles in immune responses in vivo. However, recent studies have now defined previously unrecognized roles for basophils in both immune regulation and allergic responses, and have shown that basophils and mast cells have distinct roles in immune responses.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$209.00 per year
only $17.42 per issue
Rent or buy this article
Prices vary by article type
from$1.95
to$39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Galli, S. J. Mast cells and basophils. Curr. Opin. Hematol. 7, 32–39 (2000).
Prussin, C. & Metcalfe, D. D. IgE, mast cells, basophils, and eosinophils. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 111, S486–S494 (2003).
Gibbs, B. F. Human basophils as effectors and immunomodulators of allergic inflammation and innate immunity. Clin. Exp. Med. 5, 43–49 (2005).
Dvorak, A. M. The mouse basophil, a rare and rarely recognized granulocyte. Blood 96, 1616–1617 (2000).
Urbina, C., Ortiz, C. & Hurtado, I. A new look at basophils in mice. Int. Arch. Allergy Appl. Immunol. 66, 158–160 (1981).
Seder, R. A. et al. Mouse splenic and bone marrow cell populations that express high-affinity Fcε receptors and produce interleukin 4 are highly enriched in basophils. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 88, 2835–2839 (1991).
Schroeder, J. T., MacGlashan, D. W. Jr. & Lichtenstein, L. M. Human basophils: mediator release and cytokine production. Adv. Immunol. 77, 93–122 (2001).
Voehringer, D., Shinkai, K. & Locksley, R. M. Type 2 immunity reflects orchestrated recruitment of cells committed to IL-4 production. Immunity 20, 267–277 (2004).
Min, B. et al. Basophils produce IL-4 and accumulate in tissues after infection with a Th2-inducing parasite. J. Exp. Med. 200, 507–517 (2004).
Mukai, K. et al. Basophils play a critical role in the development of IgE-mediated chronic allergic inflammation independently of T cells and mast cells. Immunity 23, 191–202 (2005).
Obata, K. et al. Basophils are essential initiators of a novel type of chronic allergic inflammation. Blood 110, 913–920 (2007).
Tsujimura, Y. et al. Basophils play a pivotal role in immunoglobulin-G-mediated but not immunoglobulin-E-mediated systemic anaphylaxis. Immunity 28, 581–589 (2008).
Sokol, C. L., Barton, G. M., Farr, A. G. & Medzhitov, R. A mechanism for the initiation of allergen-induced T helper type 2 responses. Nature Immunol. 9, 310–318 (2008).
Denzel, A. et al. Basophils enhance immunological memory responses. Nature Immunol. 9, 733–742 (2008).
Kojima, T. et al. Mast cells and basophils are selectively activated in vitro and in vivo through CD200R3 in an IgE-independent manner. J. Immunol. 179, 7093–7100 (2007).
Macfarlane, A. J. et al. Basophils, eosinophils, and mast cells in atopic and nonatopic asthma and in late-phase allergic reactions in the lung and skin. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 105, 99–107 (2000).
Gauvreau, G. M. et al. Increased numbers of both airway basophils and mast cells in sputum after allergen inhalation challenge of atopic asthmatics. Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 161, 1473–1478 (2000).
Sampson, H. A. et al. Second symposium on the definition and management of anaphylaxis: summary report — second national institute of allergy and infectious disease/food allergy and anaphylaxis network symposium. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 117, 391–397 (2006).
Simons, F. E. et al. Risk assessment in anaphylaxis: current and future approaches. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 120, S2–S24 (2007).
Galli, S. J. Pathogenesis and management of anaphylaxis: current status and future challenges. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 115, 571–574 (2005).
Finkelman, F. D. Anaphylaxis: lessons from mouse models. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 120, 506–515 (2007).
Miyajima, I. et al. Systemic anaphylaxis in the mouse can be mediated largely through IgG1 and FcγRIII. Assessment of the cardiopulmonary changes, mast cell degranulation, and death associated with active or IgE- or IgG1-dependent passive anaphylaxis. J. Clin. Invest. 99, 901–914 (1997).
Dombrowicz, D. et al. Absence of FcεRIα chain results in upregulation of FcγRIII-dependent mast cell degranulation and anaphylaxis. Evidence of competition between FcεRI and FcγRIII for limiting amounts of FcRβ and γ chains. J. Clin. Invest. 99, 915–925 (1997).
Strait, R. T., Morris, S. C., Yang, M., Qu, X. W. & Finkelman, F. D. Pathways of anaphylaxis in the mouse. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 109, 658–668 (2002).
Vadas, P. et al. Platelet-activating factor, PAF acetylhydrolase, and severe anaphylaxis. N. Engl. J. Med. 358, 28–35 (2008).
Min, B. & Paul, W. E. Basophils and type 2 immunity. Curr. Opin. Hematol. 15, 59–63 (2008).
Hida, S., Tadachi, M., Saito, T. & Taki, S. Negative control of basophil expansion by IRF-2 critical for the regulation of Th1/Th2 balance. Blood 106, 2011–2017 (2005).
Oh, K., Shen, T., Le Gros, G. & Min, B. Induction of Th2 type immunity in a mouse system reveals a novel immunoregulatory role of basophils. Blood 109, 2921–2927 (2007).
Kubo, S., Nakayama, T., Matsuoka, K., Yonekawa, H. & Karasuyama, H. Long term maintenance of IgE-mediated memory in mast cells in the absence of detectable serum IgE. J. Immunol. 170, 775–780 (2003).
Kawakami, T. & Galli, S. J. Regulation of mast-cell and basophil function and survival by IgE. Nature Rev. Immunol. 2, 773–786 (2002).
Khodoun, M. V., Orekhova, T., Potter, C., Morris, S. & Finkelman, F. D. Basophils initiate IL-4 production during a memory T-dependent response. J. Exp. Med. 200, 857–870 (2004).
Mack, M. et al. Identification of antigen-capturing cells as basophils. J. Immunol. 174, 735–741 (2005).
Aoki, I., Kinzer, C., Shirai, A., Paul, W. E. & Klinman, D. M. IgE receptor-positive non-B/non-T cells dominate the production of interleukin 4 and interleukin 6 in immunized mice. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 92, 2534–2538 (1995).
Falcone, F. H., Pritchard, D. I. & Gibbs, B. F. Do basophils play a role in immunity against parasites? Trends Parasitol. 17, 126–129 (2001).
Galli, S. J., Grimbaldeston, M. & Tsai, M. Immunomodulatory mast cells: negative, as well as positive, regulators of immunity. Nature Rev. Immunol. 8, 478–486 (2008).
Arock, M., Schneider, E., Boissan, M., Tricottet, V. & Dy, M. Differentiation of human basophils: an overview of recent advances and pending questions. J. Leukoc. Biol. 71, 557–564 (2002).
Juhlin, L. & Michaelsson, G. A new syndrome characterised by absence of eosinophils and basophils. Lancet 1, 1233–1235 (1977).
Mitchell, E. B., Platts-Mills, T. A., Pereira, R. S., Malkovska, V. & Webster, A. D. Acquired basophil and eosinophil deficiency in a patient with hypogammaglobulinaemia associated with thymoma. Clin. Lab. Haematol. 5, 253–257 (1983).
Arinobu, Y. et al. Developmental checkpoints of the basophil/mast cell lineages in adult murine hematopoiesis. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 102, 18105–18110 (2005).
Chen, C. C., Grimbaldeston, M. A., Tsai, M., Weissman, I. L. & Galli, S. J. Identification of mast cell progenitors in adult mice. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 102, 11408–11413 (2005).
Acknowledgements
We thank members of the Department of Immune Regulation, Tokyo Medical and Dental University Graduate School for helpful discussion and critical comments on the manuscript. Our work is supported by Grants-in-aid from the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Related links
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Karasuyama, H., Mukai, K., Tsujimura, Y. et al. Newly discovered roles for basophils: a neglected minority gains new respect. Nat Rev Immunol 9, 9–13 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nri2458
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nri2458
This article is cited by
-
Hepatic Cytochrome P450 Activity and Nitric Oxide Production During Multiple Ovalbumin Challenges
European Journal of Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics (2019)
-
Basophils activated via TLR signaling may contribute to pathophysiology of type 1 autoimmune pancreatitis
Journal of Gastroenterology (2018)
-
The Three-Herb Formula Shuang-Huang-Lian stabilizes mast cells through activation of mitochondrial calcium uniporter
Scientific Reports (2017)
-
Risk of anaphylaxis in opioid dependent persons: effects of heroin versus substitution substance
Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy (2014)
-
Distinctive bronchial inflammation status in athletes: basophils, a new player
European Journal of Applied Physiology (2013)