title: The Role of Mast Cells in Bacterial Infection.
abstract: Mast cells (MCs) are particularly abundant at host-environment interfaces, such as skin and intestinal mucosa. Because of their location, it has been hypothesized that MCs can act as sentinel cells that sense microbial attacks and initiate a protective immune response. Several studies have suggested that animals deficient in MCs exhibit a worsened pathology in various experimental models of bacterial infection. However, other studies have indicated that MCs under certain circumstances may have a detrimental impact on bacterial disease, and there are also recent studies indicating that MCs are dispensable for the clearance of bacterial pathogens. Herein, we review the current knowledge of the role of MCs in bacterial infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Carl-Fredrik
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Johnzon
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Elin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rönnberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden; Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden. Electronic address: gunnar.pejler@imbim.uu.se.
authors.forename: Gunnar
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pejler
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008407:Mast Cells / Q000276:immunology*