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Characterization of mast cell populations using different methods for their identification

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Abstract

Mast cells are ubiquitous throughout the human tissues and play an essential role in physiology and pathology. For evaluation of patients with pathological conditions, mast cells were primarily detected using metachromatic staining with toluidine blue. In the last decades, the staining arsenal of pathologists was enriched with enzyme histochemical and immunohistochemical methods, and it was established that depending on species and tissue localization mast cells are not similar both in appearance and function. The aim of this study was to characterize different mast cell populations using the up-to-date methods of their identification. We compared standard metachromatic method for mast cells with enzyme histochemical detection of chloroacetyl esterase and with immunohistochemical detection of tryptase and chymase in human and rodent tissues. Combination of these methods allowed us to assay quantitatively mast cell populations in different organs of humans and rodents. Furthermore, we assessed the appropriate implementation of each of these methods for mast cell identification in diagnostic labs.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Denis Morozow for perfect technical assistance and other colleagues from the immunohistology laboratory for sharing probes and reagents.

Author contributions

A.D. and I.B. designed experiments, analyzed and interpreted results, and wrote the manuscript, whereas all the authors contributed to its revision; V.S. did immunohistochemistry; W.B. analyzed and interpreted results; M.T. directed the study and contributed to financial support the research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Institute of Experimental Biology and Medicine, Burdenko Voronezh State Medical University, Voronezh, Russia

    Dmitri Atiakshin

  2. Institute for Hematopathology, Fangdieckstreet 75a, 22547, Hamburg, Germany

    Vera Samoilova, Igor Buchwalow, Werner Boecker & Markus Tiemann

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  1. Dmitri Atiakshin
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  2. Vera Samoilova
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  3. Igor Buchwalow
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  4. Werner Boecker
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Igor Buchwalow.

Ethics declarations

Human tissue probes were collected from the archives of the Department of Pathology of the University of Muenster (WB). Informed consent was obtained from all subjects. The study was performed in accordance with the principles of World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki “Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects”. All experimental protocols were approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Institute for Hematopathology, Hamburg, Germany.

Tissue probes from experimental animals were performed in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration, The Guiding Principles in the Care and Use of Animals, German law (Tierschutzgesetz BGBl. I,S. 1206, Revision 2006), EEC directives 86/609/EEC and approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Institute for Hematopathology, Hamburg, Germany.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Atiakshin, D., Samoilova, V., Buchwalow, I. et al. Characterization of mast cell populations using different methods for their identification. Histochem Cell Biol 147, 683–694 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00418-017-1547-7

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