Time- and concentration-dependent effects of exogenous serotonin and inflammatory cytokines on mast cell function

Mast cells play a significant role in both the innate and adaptive immune response; however, the tissue-bound nature of mast cells presents an experimental roadblock to performing physiologically relevant mast cell experiments. In this work, a heterogeneous cell culture containing primary culture murine peritoneal mast cells (MPMCs) was studied to characterize the time-dependence of mast cell response to allergen stimulation and the time- and concentration-dependence of the ability of the heterogeneous MPMC culture to uptake and degranulate exogenous serotonin using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled to an electrochemical detector. Additionally, because mast cells play a central role in asthma, MPMCs were exposed to CXCL10 and CCL5, two important asthma-related inflammatory cytokines that have recently been shown to induce mast cell degranulation. MPMC response to both allergen exposure and cytokine exposure was evaluated for 5-HT secretion and bioactive lipid formation using ultraperformance liquid chromatography coupled to an electrospray ionization triple quadrupole mass spectrometer (UPLC-MS/MS). In this work, MPMC response was shown to be highly regulated and responsive to subtle alterations in a complex environment through time- and concentration-dependent degranulation and bioactive lipid formation. These results highlight the importance of selecting an appropriate mast cell model when studying mast cell involvement in allergic response and inflammation.