This study was carried out to gather species-specific data on mast-cell density and distribution in camel small intestine under different fixation conditions and to elucidate the presence and cross-reactivity of tryptase in the camel small intestine using human specific anti-tryptase antibody. Tissue specimens from the jejunum, duodenum, and ileum were obtained from 9 healthy, 9-12 months old, ...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Although mucosal mast cell tryptase is known to significantly increase intestinal permeability, the relationship between mucosal mast cells and intestinal permeability remains unclear. The objective of this study was to evaluate the correlation among intestinal permeability, tryptase activity and mucosal mast cell count. METHODS Rectal biopsies from 16 patients with diarrhea-p...

A recent report postulated that the mast cell population is a significant reservoir for persistent HIV infection. Our study attempted to validate this hypothesis by quantitatively comparing the distribution of mast cells and cells expressing the HIV protein p24 in HIV infected patients. Consecutive sections of paraffin-embedded human tissues from various tissue sites were subjected to immunohis...

Mast-cell products can stimulate fibroblast proliferation, implying that these cells are key players in fibrosis. One mast-cell product, the serine protease tryptase, is known to activate protease-activated receptor 2 (PAR2) and cause proliferation of fibroblasts. We found that recombinant tryptase, human mast-cell (HMC-1) supernatant, which contains tryptase, and the PAR2-activating peptide SL...

Human β-tryptase is stored in secretory granules of human mast cells as a heparin-stabilized tetramer. β-Protryptase in solution can be directly processed to the mature enzyme by cathepsin (CTS) L and CTSB, and sequentially processed by autocatalysis at R(-3), followed by CTSC proteolysis. However, it is uncertain which CTS is involved in protryptase processing inside human mast cells, because ...

It has been recognized for a long time that the secretory granules of mast cells are acidic, but the functional importance of maintaining an acidic pH in the mast cell granules is not fully understood. Here we addressed this issue by examining the effects of raising the pH of the mast cell secretory granules. Mast cells were incubated with bafilomycin A1, an inhibitor of the vacuolar-type ATPas...

Hallgren, J., 2004. The role of heparin in the activation of mast cell tryptase. Doctor’s dissertation. ISSN 1401-6257, ISBN 91-576-6676-8 Mast cells play an important role in our immune defense against bacteria and parasites but are also key effector cells in various inflammatory diseases. They act by releasing inflammatory mediators from intracellular granules. Tryptase, one of the most abund...

A gene that encodes mouse mast cell protease (mMCP) 7 (also known as mouse mast cell tryptase 2) was isolated by genomic cloning with a cDNA that encodes mMCP-6, a tryptase in serosal mast cells. cDNAs encoding mMCP-7 were isolated from a bone-marrow-derived mast cell cDNA library. The mMCP-7 gene spans 2.3 kilobases and contains five exons rather than six, as found in the mMCP-6 and human mast...

BACKGROUND If mast cells are stimulated they release multiple mediators that delineate markers for immunologic and nonimmunologic reactions; histamine and tryptase are the two best known. Although histamine can be assayed in plasma, it is a nonspecific marker with a very short half-life. Tryptase has a longer half-life, but its release has not been proven to be specific for anaphylaxis. The aut...