Anaphylaxis in Isolated Rat Mast Cells

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Abstract
Anaphylaxis "in-vitro" has been investigated in a system consisting of isolated peritoneal mast cells of the albino rat and an antiserum against rat gamma-globulin obtained from rabbits. Interaction between antigen and antibody is not of itself sufficient to induce cytolysis or histamine release. Additional heat-labile serum factors are necessary. The proesterase activated in this "in-vitro" system in the course of the antigen-antibody reaction is localized in the heat-labile fraction of the serum. By virtue of the effect of inhibitors, the need for fresh serum, the requirement for calcium ions, the dependence on ionic strength, the evidence of complement consumption during the antigen-antibody reaction and the inactivity of fresh serum treated with aggregated human gamma-globulin, it is concluded that a proesterase, present in complement, is the key to the reaction whereby pharmacologically-active agents are released from the mast cell. The sera of a number of animal species have been investigated with respect to their capacity to act as complement donors in the above system and the results have been compared to their effects on immune hemolysis. This shows that, besides a certain parallelism, there are also sub-stantial differences.

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