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Mast cells: Therapeutic targets for COVID ‐19 and beyond
Author(s) -
Lam Hiu Yan,
Tergaonkar Vinay,
Kumar Alan Prem,
Ahn Kwang Seok
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
iubmb life
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.132
H-Index - 113
eISSN - 1521-6551
pISSN - 1521-6543
DOI - 10.1002/iub.2552
Subject(s) - immune system , pathogenesis , inflammation , mast cell , immunology , biology , innate immune system , broad spectrum , allergic inflammation , receptor , covid-19 , disease , medicine , infectious disease (medical specialty) , chemistry , pathology , genetics , combinatorial chemistry
Mast cells (MCs) are innate immune cells that widely distribute throughout all tissues and express a variety of cell surface receptors. Upon activation, MCs can rapidly release a diverse array of preformed mediators residing within their secretory granules and newly synthesize a broad spectrum of inflammatory and immunomodulatory mediators. These unique features of MCs enable them to act as sentinels in response to rapid changes within their microenvironment. There is increasing evidence now that MCs play prominent roles in other pathophysiological processes besides allergic inflammation. In this review, we highlight the recent findings on the emerging roles of MCs in the pathogenesis of coronavirus disease‐2019 (COVID‐19) and discuss the potential of MCs as novel therapeutic targets for COVID‐19 and other non‐allergic inflammatory diseases.