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- Akula, Srinivas, et al.
(author)
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Cultures of Human Skin Mast Cells, an Attractive In Vitro Model for Studies of Human Mast Cell Biology
- 2024
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In: Cells. - : MDPI. - 2073-4409. ; 13:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Studies of mast cell biology are dependent on relevant and validated in vitro models. Here, we present detailed information concerning the phenotype of both freshly isolated human skin mast cells (MCs) and of in vitro cultures of these cells that were obtained by analyzing their total transcriptome. Transcript levels of MC-related granule proteins and transcription factors were found to be remarkably stable over a 3-week culture period. Relatively modest changes were also seen for important cell surface receptors including the high-affinity receptor for IgE, FCER1A, the low-affinity receptor for IgG, FCGR2A, and the receptor for stem cell factor, KIT. FCGR2A was the only Fc receptor for IgG expressed by these cells. The IgE receptor increased by 2-5-fold and an approximately 10-fold reduction in the expression of FCGR2A was observed most likely due to the cytokines, SCF and IL-4, used for expanding the cells. Comparisons of the present transcriptome against previously reported transcriptomes of mouse peritoneal MCs and mouse bone marrow-derived MCs (BMMCs) revealed both similarities and major differences. Strikingly, cathepsin G was the most highly expressed granule protease in human skin MCs, in contrast to the almost total absence of this protease in both mouse MCs. Transcript levels for the majority of cell surface receptors were also very low compared to the granule proteases in both mouse and human MCs, with a difference of almost two orders of magnitude. An almost total absence of T-cell granzymes was observed in human skin MCs, indicating that granzymes have no or only a minor role in human MC biology. Ex vivo skin MCs expressed high levels of selective immediate early genes and transcripts of heat shock proteins. In validation experiments, we determined that this expression was an inherent property of the cells and not the result of the isolation process. Three to four weeks in culture results in an induction of cell growth-related genes accompanying their expansion by 6-10-fold, which increases the number of cells for in vitro experiments. Collectively, we show that cultured human skin MCs resemble their ex vivo equivalents in many respects and are a more relevant in vitro model compared to mouse BMMCs for studies of MC biology, in particular human MC biology.
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| 2. |
- Paivandy, Aida
(author)
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Induction of Mast Cell Apoptosis via Granule Permeabilization : A Novel Approach to Target Mast Cells
- 2020
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Mast cells are densely granulated tissue-resident immune cells that play an important role in orchestrating inflammatory responses. Dysregulated increases in the numbers and activation status of mast cells can have deleterious consequences for the body in various inflammatory diseases. Mast cells are best-known for their detrimental roles in allergic diseases, e.g., asthma. Thus, strategies that target mast cells and their harmful activities in such pathological conditions are potentially attractive therapeutic options. An efficient strategy to accomplish a full blockade of the harmful events mediated by various mast cell mediators is to locally eliminate mast cell populations altogether by inducing their apoptosis.Using in vitro-cultured mast cells, we identified that mefloquine, an antimalarial drug with lysosomotropic activity, causes permeabilization of secretory granules, increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), release of granule-localized proteases into the cytosol and apoptotic cell death (Paper I). Moreover, intraperitoneal injections of mefloquine in mice resulted in a reduced peritoneal mast cell population in vivo.To evaluate the possibility of using lysosomotropic agents for selectively depleting human lung mast cells by induction of apoptosis, human lung specimens were used. Exposure of either intact human lung tissue, purified lung mast cells or mixed populations of lung cells to mefloquine revealed that human lung mast cells are highly susceptible to ROS-induced apoptosis in this setting. In contrast, other cell populations of the lung were largely refractory (Paper II).Lastly, in an attempt to gain a deeper insight into the mechanism underlying ROS production and the downstream events in response to lysosomotropic challenge, we identified that the mast cell secretory granules comprise major subcellular compartments for ROS production in response to mefloquine (Paper III). Lysosomal iron, granzyme B and the ERK1/2 MAP kinase signaling pathway were found to contribute to production of ROS in response to mefloquine. Furthermore, granule acidification was shown to be essential for mefloquine-mediated effects in mast cells, i.e., granule permeabilization, ROS production and cell death. Collectively, the present thesis introduces the possibility of inducing selective mast cell apoptosis via granule permeabilization as a novel strategy to target mast cells. Thus, this strategy has a potential to be used therapeutically to ameliorate mast cell-mediated detrimental effects in inflammatory diseases, such as asthma.
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