title: Mast cell ontogeny: an historical overview.
abstract: Mast cells were first identified by Paul Ehrlich in 1878, when he was still a medical student. Many fundamental aspects of mast cell ontogeny have been elucidated since Ehrlich's first identification. Demonstration of mast cell derivation from bone marrow precursors could be established in 1977 when Kitamura's group first showed reconstitution of mast cells in mast cell-deficient mice by the adaptive transfer of wild type bone marrow and indicated that these cells were of hematopoietic origin. It is now definitively established that development of mast cells in bone marrow occurs along the myeloid pathway. However, several aspects need further clarification. In particular, identification and chemical characterization of growth factors expressing mast cell differentiating properties and the relationship between mast cell and basophils developmental pathways.
authors.affiliation: Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neurosciences and Sensory Organs, University of Bari Medical School, Bari, Italy; National Cancer Institute "Giovanni Paolo II", Bari, Italy. Electronic address: domenico.ribatti@uniba.it.
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ribatti
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Section of Anatomy, Udine, Italy.
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Crivellato
mesh_terms: D019264:Adoptive Transfer / Q000266:history*; D000818:Animals; D001491:Basophils / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology*; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation / Q000266:history*; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D019070:Cell Lineage / Q000276:immunology*; D015870:Gene Expression; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D007377:Interleukin-3 / Q000276:immunology / Q000494:pharmacology; D008407:Mast Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D019089:Stem Cell Factor / Q000276:immunology / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D007377:Interleukin-3; D019089:Stem Cell Factor
keywords: Bone marrow; Mast cells; Ontogeny; Stem cell factor; c-kit