Abstract:

Objective To investigate the changing characteristics of number and phenotype of mast cell precursors in hepatoma-bearing mice. Methods H22 hepatoma-bearing mouse model was established. Single cells were prepared from bone marrow, spleen and peripheral normal and tumor tissues. Flow cytometry was employed to analyze the proportions of granulocyte/monocyte precursors (GMP) in bone marrow cells, basophil-mast cell progenitors (BMCP) in spleen cells, and mast cell precursors in peripheral normal and tumor tissues. In addition, the expression of Toll-like receptor-2 (TLR2) in BMCP and MCP was determined by flow cytometry. Results The proportions of GMP in bone marrow cells, BMCP in spleen cells and mast cell precursor in peripheral tumor tissues in hepatoma-bearing mice were significantly higher than those in normal mice (P＜0.05). There was no significant difference in proportions of TLR2-positive cells in BMCP in spleen between hepatoma-bearing mice and normal mice (P＞0.05), but the proportion of TLR2-positive cells in mast cell precursor in peripheral tumor tissues in hepatoma-bearing mice was significantly higher than that in normal mice (P＜0.05). Conclusion Mobilization of mast cells is significantly increased and there are higher proportions of mast cell precursors in bone marrow, spleen and peripheral tumor tissues in H22 hepatoma-bearing mice. But there is no significant change in expression of TLR2 in BMCP, and the change mainly takes place in mast cell precursor in peripheral tumor tissues in hepatoma-bearing mice.

Key words: mast cells, mast cell precursors, granulocyte/monocyte precursors, basophil-mast cell progenitors, Toll-like receptor-2