Recent advances in understanding basophil functions in vivo

Basophils are mainly known as pro-inflammatory effector cells associated with allergy and helminth infections. Although they were identified over 130 years ago, their in vivo functions are still poorly understood. New insights into basophil development and function have been gained by the development of various transgenic mouse lines and staining techniques to detect and purify these cells from different organs. Several studies over the past few years have identified unexpected functions for basophils, including immunomodulatory properties and interactions with other immune cells. Here, I summarize and discuss the main findings.