Signal Transduction In Mast Cells And Basophils

Focussing on the molecular mechanisms that govern mast cell and basophil cell biology and function, this book also provides a comprehensive summary of the field of signal transduction, giving insights into areas that have therapeutic potential. It gives detailed insights into mast cell and basophil growth and development, their activation by allergens, including details of receptor activation and downstream events, and the regulators of morphology and degranulation. The metabolic pathways involved in prostaglandin and leukotriene production are discussed as is the role of transcription factors in mast cell growth and cytokine production. Written by leaders in the field, this volume will provide readers with an up-to-date account of a topic whose rapid progress makes conventional information gathering difficult.

Mast Cells and Basophils will be essential reading for immunologists, biochemists and medical researchers. Detailed chapters cover all aspects of mast cell and basophil research, from cell development, proteases, histamine, cysteinyl leukotrienes, physiology and pathology to the role of these cells in health and disease. Chapters also discuss the clinical implications of histamine receptor antagonists.

In this book, the editors have focused on the roles of mast cells in allergic diseases and discuss the future direction of discovering drugs. Another implication of this book is to understand mast cells at the system level. System biology is a research category to understand biology at the system level by examining the structure and dynamics of cellular and organismal functions, rather than the characteristics of isolated parts of a cell or organism.

The book presents recent advances relating to the factors and mechanisms that regulate the growth, differentiation and function of mast cells and basophils; discussion of new technologies used to study these cells, and integration of the basic scientific findings in the context of therapeutic possibilities for the treatment of diseases such as allergic inflammation and autoimmune disease which are mediated, in part, by these granulocytes.

The high affinity IgE receptor (FceRI) plays a central role in allergic diseases including asthma, allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis, food and drug allergy. Manipulating the function of this receptor is important for controlling the onset of allergic diseases. Written by leading scientists in the field, this book is the first comprehensive monograph to cover various aspects of FceRI structure, signal transduction and function. Thus, the book is valuable for researchers/students working on FceRI and on other receptors. In addition, clinicians who are concerned with broadening their knowledge of the FceRI role in allergic diseases will find this book useful.

A cutting-edge collection of readily reproducible techniques for the isolation, culture, and study of activation and signaling in human mast cells. These methods take advantage of the latest advances in molecular biology, technology, and information science. They include methods for the identification of mast cells, the development of mast cells in vitro, the study of mast cell signaling and gene expression, and the measurement of mast cell expression of inflammatory mediators. Additional chapters cover methods for studying mast cell interactions with other cell types (endothelial cells, fibroblasts, and B cells), the roles of mast cells in host defense, and mast cell apoptosis.

Basophils and mast cells are similar but unique secretory cells with a well-documented role in immediate-hypersensitivity reactions. The presence of these cells in various cell mediated hypersensitivity reactions, in tissues of multiple diseases, and as a component of the host reaction to injury and repair in numerous circumstances is well known. Release of stored and newly generated mediators of inflammation from basophils and mast cells contributes to the cascade of pathogenetic events in circumstances under which these release reactions occur. Despite insights acquired through studies of these pathologic events, the role of basophils and mast cells and their secretory products in health is not known. In this book, I review much of the structural information regarding basophils and mast cells of multiple species. Ultrastructural studies of rat mast cells historically precede and quantitatively exceed similar studies of basophils and mast cells of other species. Therefore, I first review these background studies as an entity. Then I discuss the contents of two prominent organelles-granules and lipid bodies-in basophils and mast cells of several species. The ultrastructural morphology of basophils and mast cells in three species is presented in detail to establish appropriate guidelines for their recognition and to provide general rules for analysis which are appropriate for the identification of these cells in other species as well.