title: Isolation of tissue mast cells.
abstract: Mast cells, unlike other immune effector cells, are not found in the circulation and thus must be obtained from accessible tissues such as gastrointestinal and lung tissue. In this unit, a combination of mechanical fragmentation, enzyme digestion, and centrifugation procedures are used to obtain suspensions enriched for mast cells from gastrointestinal tissue. A support protocol details a procedure for acid toluidine blue staining of mast cells.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Allergy And Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: D D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Metcalfe
mesh_terms: D002469:Cell Separation / Q000379:methods*; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000166:cytology; D006801:Humans; D008407:Mast Cells / Q000166:cytology*