title: Localization of mucosal mast cells in W/Wv mice after reconstitution with bone marrow cells or cultured mast cells, and its relation to the protective capacity to Strongyloides ratti infection.
abstract: Localization of mast cells in the intestinal epithelium, villous lamina propria and basal lamina propria of mast cell-deficient WBB6F1 (W/Wv) mice reconstituted with either bone marrow cells or with cultured mast cells (BMMC) was compared to that of mast cell-sufficient C57BL/6 or C57BL/6-bgj/bgj (beige) mice after infection with Strongyloides ratti. In mast cell-sufficient C57BL/6 or beige mice, the maximum number of intestinal mucosal mast cells (MMC) was more than 160 MMC/10 villus crypt units (VCU) and more than 90% of MMC were located in the intestinal epithelium. When W/Wv mice were reconstituted with bone marrow cells of beige mice, worm expulsion was hastened and the MMC response became comparable to that of mast cell-sufficient mice in terms of cell numbers and their intra-epithelial localization. On the other hand, when W/Wv mice were reconstituted with BMMC of beige mice, only a few donor type MMC were detected in the intestine. The proportion of intra-epithelial MMC was lower than that of mast cell-sufficient mice or of marrow-reconstituted W/Wv mice. Even repeated injection of BMMC could not fully restore the number of intra-epithelial MMC to the level of that observed in mast cell-sufficient mice. Since mast cell-growth factor-producing activity of W/Wv mice was comparable to that of mast cell-sufficient mice, the ineffectiveness of BMMC-transfer in restoring protective activity or MMC responses in W/Wv mice seems to be attributed to the functional immaturity or inactivity of BMMC.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000276:immunology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000276:immunology*; D007700:Kinetics; D008407:Mast Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D013321:Strongyloides / Q000276:immunology*; D013322:Strongyloidiasis / Q000276:immunology*