Elsevier

Life Sciences

Volume 209, 15 September 2018, Pages 52-56
Life Sciences

Review article
Role of mast cells in autoimmunity

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lfs.2018.07.051Get rights and content

Abstract

Autoimmune diseases result from an immune response against structures of the organism itself. Their etiology is unknown, although they have been associated with genetic and environmental factors and the participation of mast cells has recently been proposed. The objective of this review was to provide an update on the role of mast cells in these diseases.

According to the literature, mast cells not only intervene in immune processes as a defense mechanism but are also involved in the development of disease. Thus, mast cells may participate in important ways in autoimmune diseases through the secretion of cytokines or release of enzymes from their cytoplasmic granules or through the activity of proinflammatory mediators released by these cells. Further research is warranted to elucidate the role of mast cells in autoimmune diseases.

Introduction

Mast cells are immune response effector cells that participate in host defense, immune regulation, allergic reactions, and chronic inflammation. Many of the physiological and physiopathological functions of mast cells are closely related to the biological actions of compounds contained by granules in their cytosols. Thus, the main function attributed to mast cells is the secretion of biologically active products with a wide range of properties that are preformed and stored in their cytoplasmic granules, including proteoglycans, lysosomal enzymes, biogenic amines, cytokines, and growth factors [[1], [2], [3]].

Mast cells are known to be involved in allergic reactions, with anaphylaxis being the most severe manifestation. More recently, they have also been implicated in atherosclerosis, contact dermatitis, cancer, and autoimmunity, among other conditions, based on their wide distribution among tissues, their proximity to nerves, blood and lymphatic vessels, and their aforementioned capacity to activate and release the content of their granules [4, 5].

The objective of this review of the literature was to provide an update on the role of mast cells in autoimmune diseases.

Section snippets

Mast cells

Mast cells are a highly heterogeneous population of cells that originate in the medulla and fully differentiate when reaching their final destination, so that their definitive characteristics depend on the tissue in which they mature. Mast cells are widely distributed among all vascularized tissues, nerve endings, smooth muscle cells, hair follicles, and mucosae. They are abundant at sites in contact with the external environment, such as airways, gastrointestinal tract, and skin, being the

Autoimmune diseases

Autoimmune diseases are complex chronic inflammatory diseases produced by a failure of self-tolerance. They are conventionally classified in clinical practice as organ-specific (the response targets antigens in a specific tissue) or non-organ-specific (the response targets systemic antigens). They all induce either humoral or cellular immune responses against the organism's own molecules or tissues. The etiology of these diseases is poorly understood, but environmental and polygenic factors are

Mast cells and autoimmune diseases

Mast cells are attributed with a major role in the defense of the organism [11]. However, advances in molecular biology, immunohistochemistry, and biotechnology have revealed other functions, favoring not only homeostasis but also disease progression [30, 31].

Thus, mast cells have been found to participate in rheumatoid arthritis [32, 33] and intestinal inflammatory diseases [34], among others. Since mast cells promote inflammation procedures, they are supposed to play an important role in

Mast cells and ILCs in autoimmunity: a new development in the field

Nowadays, there is emerging evidence that two classes of innate cells, mast cells and innate lymphoid cells (ILCs), exert a deep influence in Central Nervous System (CNS) inflammatory disease. These cells can be early activated to express a wide variety of disease-modifying cytokines and chemokines [18]. ILCs have been characterized in mice and human. There is considerable phenotypic and functional heterogeneity in the mature ILC family and three groups of ILCs have been defined based upon

Conclusions

In conclusion, mast cells are a highly heterogeneous population whose characteristic depend on the tissue in which they complete their maturation. They play an important role in the mechanisms that underlie various autoimmune diseases, either through the release of enzymes from their granules or through the activity of cytokines that they can also release, as with IL33 that activates other cell populations (ILC2). We think that knowledge of mast cells in autoimmune procedures is a key to

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by research group BIO277 (Junta de Andalucía) and Department of Nursing (University of Granada).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

Funding

None.

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