Understanding human mast cells: lesson from therapies for allergic and non-allergic diseases

Kolkhir and colleagues discuss how therapies targeting human mast cells in both allergic and non-allergic disease settings have provided crucial insights into the functions of these cells. Mast cells have crucial roles in allergic and other inflammatory diseases. Preclinical approaches provide circumstantial evidence for mast cell involvement in many diseases, but these studies have major limitations - for example, there is still a lack of suitable mouse models for some mast cell-driven diseases such as urticaria. Some approaches for studying mast cells are invasive or can induce severe reactions, and very few mediators or receptors are specific for mast cells. Recently, several drugs that target human mast cells have been developed. These include monoclonal antibodies and small molecules that can specifically inhibit mast cell degranulation via key receptors (such as Fc epsilon RI), that block specific signal transduction pathways involved in mast cell activation (for example, BTK), that silence mast cells via inhibitory receptors (such as Siglec-8) or that reduce mast cell numbers and prevent their differentiation by acting on the mast/stem cell growth factor receptor KIT. In this Review, we discuss the existing and emerging therapies that target mast cells, and we consider how these treatments can help us to understand mast cell functions in disease.

Automated summary

The discussion focuses on the crucial roles of human mast cells in allergic and other inflammatory diseases, as well as the current and emerging therapies targeting mast cells. These therapies include monoclonal antibodies, small molecules, and other approaches to inhibit mast cell function in disease settings.