1. There is a human mast cell line, HMC-1, derived from a patient with mast cell leukemia. Its major drawback it that it does not express IgE receptors. Mast cells can be grown from the bone marrow of humans and mice, but the latter requires a good deal of expertise. There are also a number of murine lines. 2. There are a number of digestion/isolation protocols. Current Protocols in Immunology has a good one. They are not pleasant. 3. Mast cells circulate in the blood as precursors, which are present in vanishingly small numbers. The precursors can be isolated from blood, not the mast cells. 4. The two major ways to identify these cells is based upon either the presence of FceRI (high affinity IgE receptor) or intracellular tryptase. The difficulty with the former is that a number of other cell types (basophils, monocytes) carry this receptor. Tryptase appears to be unique for mast cells, but is intracellular. We have a paper examining mast cell derived IL-16 using tryptase as a marker (J.I. 159:2904-2910, 1997). Best of luck, Calman > ---------- > From: Richard K. Meister > Reply To: meister.1@osu.edu > Sent: Wednesday, January 7, 1998 12:19 PM > To: Cytometry Mailing List > Subject: Mast cells > > > Hello, everyone: > > One of our graduate students wants to undertake a project involving > mast > cells (in general, and canine mast cells in particular) and flow > cytometry. > A few questions: > > 1. Are there any mast cell lines available, either human, canine, > etc.? > > 2. What would be the best way to isolate mast cells from solid > tissue? (I > imagine that some isolation protocols could cause the mast cells to > degranulate and make identification more difficult.) > > 3. Do mast cells circulate in the blood as such, or as a precursor > cell > type? Can they be isolated from the blood? > > 4. What is the best way to identify mast cells by flow cytometry? > > Any information or references will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in > advance. >
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