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Review
. 2022 Jan 19;11(3):329.
doi: 10.3390/cells11030329.

Mucosal Mast Cells as Key Effector Cells in Food Allergies

Nobuhiro Nakano  1 , Jiro Kitaura  1
Affiliations
Review

Mucosal Mast Cells as Key Effector Cells in Food Allergies

Nobuhiro Nakano et al. Cells. .

Abstract

Mucosal mast cells (MMCs) localized in the intestinal mucosa play a key role in the development of IgE-mediated food allergies. Recent advances have revealed that MMCs are a distinctly different population from connective tissue mast cells localized in skin and other connective tissues. MMCs are inducible and transient cells that arise from bone marrow-derived mast cell progenitors, and their numbers increase rapidly during mucosal allergic inflammation. However, the mechanism of the dramatic expansion of MMCs and their cell functions are not well understood. Here, we review recent findings on the mechanisms of MMC differentiation and expansion, and we discuss the potential for the inducers of differentiation and expansion to serve as targets for food allergy therapy. In addition, we also discuss the mechanism by which oral immunotherapy, a promising treatment for food allergy patients, induces unresponsiveness to food allergens and the roles of MMCs in this process. Research focusing on MMCs should provide useful information for understanding the underlying mechanisms of food allergies in order to further advance the treatment of food allergies.

Keywords: TGF-β; food allergy; mucosal mast cells; notch signaling; oral immunotherapy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Inducers of MMC differentiation and expansion. MMCs differentiate from bone marrow-derived MCps in mucosal tissues. MMC numbers increase rapidly during allergic inflammation. MMC, mucosal mast cell; MCp, mast cell progenitor; TGF-β, transforming growth factor-β; SCF, stem cell factor.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Molecular mechanisms of MMC marker gene expression. Notch and TGF-β signaling act synergistically and interdependently in the expression of MMC marker genes. MMC, mucosal mast cell; TGF-β, transforming growth factor-β; NICD, Notch intracellular domain.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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