Min Booki
Department of Immunology, Lerner Research Institute, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio 44195, USA.
Nat Immunol. 2008 Dec;9(12):1333-9. doi: 10.1038/ni.f.217.
Basophils, the least abundant granulocytes, have poorly understood functions. They have been linked to the development of T helper type 2 immunity during parasite infection and allergic inflammation. Emerging evidence has not only shown the critical involvement of basophils in the development of T helper type 2 immunity but also provided useful animal models with which basophil functions can be further examined. However, distinctions must be made between what basophils 'can do' after in vitro manipulation and what they 'actually do' during in vivo immune responses; these may be very different. In this review, the functions of basophils determined on the basis of analysis of in vitro and in vivo systems and their potential involvement in clinical settings are discussed.
嗜碱性粒细胞是数量最少的粒细胞，其功能鲜为人知。它们与寄生虫感染和过敏性炎症期间2型辅助性T细胞免疫的发展有关。新出现的证据不仅表明嗜碱性粒细胞在2型辅助性T细胞免疫发展中起关键作用，还提供了有用的动物模型，可借此进一步研究嗜碱性粒细胞的功能。然而，必须区分嗜碱性粒细胞在体外操作后“能做什么”与它们在体内免疫反应期间“实际做了什么”；这两者可能非常不同。在这篇综述中，我们将讨论基于体外和体内系统分析确定的嗜碱性粒细胞功能及其在临床环境中的潜在作用。
