Mast cells articles from across Nature Portfolio

Mast cells are activated and proliferate during allergic reactions which can involve mast cell specific proteins. Here the authors show that mast cell-expressed membrane protein1 (MCEMP1) is an adaptor for KIT to promote SCF mediated mast cell proliferation and lack of MCEMP1 reduces inflammation in mouse asthma models.

The blood vessel wall is a complex multi-layered structure, yet upon injury or infection, neutrophil leukocytes are rapidly migrating from the blood stream to the affected tissues, by a process termed diapedesis. Authors here show that the final steps of diapedesis through the outer pericyte layer is regulated by perivascular mast cells via IL-17A production.

Mast cells are complex immune cells with varied functions. This Perspective explores the divergent phenotypes and functions of mast cells resulting from both their hard-wired ‘nature’ defined by their ontogeny and the ‘nurture’ they receive within specialized tissue microenvironments.

IgE-mediated activation of mast cells is linked to activation of the warm thermoregulatory neural circuit in mice.

A recent study in Immunity describes that mast cells can degranulate directly into the bloodstream to prime neutrophils for rapid extravasation at sites of tissue inflammation.

A recent study in Science describes that maternal allergen-specific IgE can cross the placenta to sensitize fetal mast cells in mice and predispose to neonatal allergy.

A new report demonstrates that IgE glycosylation, and specifically sialylation, can act as a powerful regulator of allergic responses.

A new study describes how mechanical skin injury caused by scratching can promote food anaphylaxis by increasing the number of mast cells in the gut through a keratinocyte–ILC2–tuft cell pathway.