Editor's Summary
31 August 2006
Mast Cells and Graft Rejection
Mast cells are important immune system components, best known as responders in allergic reactions such as anaphylaxis and asthma. Recent work suggests that they also act as immunoregulatory cells in both innate and adaptive immunity and surprisingly, gene expression profiles point to an association with tolerance to tissue transplants. Studies in mice now confirm that mast cells are major cellular players in immune suppression, needed for peripheral suppression dependent on regulatory T cells. This also implies a role for interleukin 9 (IL-9) as a link between activated T cells and mast cell recruitment and makes IL-9, mast cells and their gene products of interest as targets for drugs to prevent graft rejection.
News and Views: Immunology: Protection and privilege
The immune system not only attacks microbes, but also regulates itself to avoid harming vital organs. Cells notorious for their involvement in allergy turn out to be vital to this protective function.
Herman Waldmann
doi:10.1038/nature05165
Article: Mast cells are essential intermediaries in regulatory T-cell tolerance
Li-Fan Lu, Evan F. Lind, David C. Gondek, Kathy A. Bennett, Michael W. Gleeson, Karina Pino-Lagos, Zachary A. Scott, Anthony J. Coyle, Jennifer L. Reed, Jacques Van Snick, Terry B. Strom, Xin Xiao Zheng and Randolph J. Noelle
doi:10.1038/nature05010
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (588K) | Supplementary information
