Progress in allergy signal research on mast cells: systemic approach to mast cell biology in allergic diseases.
At the end of the last century, microarray technology that examines the total genes and transcripts present in a cell became available as a laboratory tool. Mast cells are known to play a pivotal role in initiating allergic inflammation by releasing various mediators and cytokines. According to the recent microarray-based studies, mast cells have been found to be much more versatile functional molecules than we ever thought. Also, genes that are exclusively expressed in mast cells have been identified in comparison with other cell types. In this article, the outcome of microarray-based analyses on the role of mast cells in allergic inflammation will be reviewed by focusing on the mast cell-specific genes as drug targets.
Saito
Hirohisa
H
Department of Allergy and Immunology, National Research Institute for Child Health & Development, Japan. hsaito@nch.go.jp
D000818:Animals; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000209:etiology*; D008407:Mast Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis