title: Flow cytometric analysis of normal and neoplastic mast cells: role in diagnosis and follow-up of mast cell disease.
abstract: Human mast cells (MCs) are directly derived from human pluripotent CD34+ stem and progenitor hematopoietic cells with stem cell factor being a critical growth factor supporting human MC proliferation, differentiation, and survival. Because of the advantages that flow cytometry offers (it allows rapid, objective, and sensitive multiparameter analysis of high numbers of cells from a sample, with information being provided on the basis of a single cell), it has become the method of choice in the past decade for immunophenotypic identification, enumeration, and characterization of human MCs in bone marrow and other tissue specimens.
authors.affiliation: Mast Cell Unit, Department of Hematology, Hospital Ramón y Cajal, Servicio de Hematología, Carretera de Colmenar Km. 9.1, Madrid E-28034, Spain. luisescribano@telefonica.net
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Escribano
authors.forename: Andres C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Garcia Montero
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Núñez
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Orfao
mesh_terms: D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000166:cytology; D005434:Flow Cytometry / Q000379:methods*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D008407:Mast Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000473:pathology*; D008415:Mastocytosis / Q000175:diagnosis*