mast cell

mast cell, tissue cell of the immune system of vertebrate animals. Mast cells mediate inflammatory responses such as hypersensitivity and allergic reactions. They are scattered throughout the connective tissues of the body, especially beneath the surface of the skin, near blood vessels and lymphatic vessels, within nerves, throughout the respiratory system, and in the digestive and urinary tracts. Mast cells store a number of different chemical mediators—including histamine, interleukins, proteoglycans (e.g., heparin), and various enzymes—in coarse granules found throughout the cytoplasm of the cell. Upon stimulation by an allergen, the mast cells release the contents of their granules (a process called degranulation) into the surrounding tissues. The chemical mediators produce local responses characteristic of an allergic reaction, such as increased permeability of blood vessels (i.e., inflammation and swelling), contraction of smooth muscles (e.g., bronchial muscles), and increased mucus production.

German medical scientist Paul Ehrlich was the first to describe mast cells, doing so in his doctoral thesis (1878). That mast cells are involved in inflammation and allergic reactions was not realized until the mid-20th century, however, and since that time mast cells have been found to participate in other immune phenomena, including autoimmune disease and innate and adaptive immune responses.