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Basophils: what they 'can do' versus what they 'actually do'

Nature Immunology volume 9, pages 1333–1339 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

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.

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Figure 1: Gating strategy for mouse basophils.
Figure 2: Functions of basophils.
Figure 3: Proposed models of basophil function during parasite infection.

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Acknowledgements

I thank W.E. Paul for review of the manuscript.

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  1. Department of Immunology, Lerner Research Institute, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, 44195, Ohio, USA

    Booki Min

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Min, B. Basophils: what they 'can do' versus what they 'actually do'. Nat Immunol 9, 1333–1339 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/ni.f.217

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