Local Mitogenic Effect of Tissue Mast Cell Secretion (original) (raw)

The effect of drug-induced mast cell secretion on proliferation .was studied in fibroblast-like and mesothelial-like cells in organ-cultured rat mesentery. Mast cell degranulation achieved by Compound 48/80 was followed by a marked mitogenic reaction in the surrounding tissue cells. The drug itself lacked mitogenic effect on cultured guinea-pig mesentery, the mast cells of which are unresponsive to the drug, and on a human normal fibroblast-like cell line. In contrast, histamine at about lo-'' M, a major mast cell component, induced marked mitogenesis in guinea-pig mesentery without causing degranulation of mast cells.