title: Mice lacking histidine decarboxylase exhibit abnormal mast cells.
abstract: Histidine decarboxylase (HDC) synthesizes histamine from histidine in mammals. To evaluate the role of histamine, we generated HDC-deficient mice using a gene targeting method. The mice showed a histamine deficiency and lacked histamine-synthesizing activity from histidine. These HDC-deficient mice are viable and fertile but exhibit a decrease in the numbers of mast cells while the remaining mast cells show an altered morphology and reduced granular content. The amounts of mast cell granular proteases were tremendously reduced. The HDC-deficient mice provide a unique and promising model for studying the role of histamine in a broad range of normal and disease processes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular Pharmacology, Tohoku University School of Medicine, 2-1 Seiryo-cho, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8575, Japan. ohtsu@mail.cc.tohoku.ac.jp
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ohtsu
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Terui
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hori
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Makabe-Kobayashi
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pejler
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tchougounova
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hellman
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gertsenstein
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hirasawa
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sakurai
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Buzás
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kovács
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Csaba
authors.lastname: Kittel A
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Okada
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hara
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mar
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Numayama-Tsuruta
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ishigaki-Suzuki
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ohuchi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ichikawa
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Falus
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nagy
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D006632:Histamine / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000378:metabolism; D006640:Histidine Decarboxylase / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D008407:Mast Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout
chemical_list: D006632:Histamine; D006640:Histidine Decarboxylase