CAJ | 학술논문

Mast cells are believed to be involved in myocardial tissue remodelling under pathophysiological conditions. We examined the effects of autoantibodies against G-protein-coupled receptors in sera of patients with heart diseases on myocardial mast cells in the cultured neonatal Sprague-Dawley rat heart cells. Cells collected at day 3 and 10 of the culture were preincubated with autoantibodies against α1-adrenoceptor and angiotensin Ⅱ AT1-receptor,agonist phenylephrine and angiotensin Ⅱ, and control IgG. The pretreated cultured cells were stained for selected mast cell markers tryptase, chymase and TNF-α. The cultured cells were also processed for observation with electron microscopy. The autoantibodies-treatment of the 3-day cultured cells caused both increased intensity of immunofluorescence (p＜0.05) and their enlarged diameters of the mast cells when compared to age-matched ones.In contrast, the fluorescence of preincubated 10-day-old mast cells was decreased compared with controls (p＜0.01).In control samples, the fluorescence of 10-day-old mast cells was significantly higher than that of 3-day-old ones (p＜0.001). Results of electron microscopy examination demonstrated there was an increased granulation of treated 3-day-old mast cells, while a degranulation of mast cells at day 10 of application. The results suggest the modulation effect of the autoantibodies against G-protein-coupled receptors on mast cells, indicating a potential functional link between the autoantibodies against G-protein-coupled receptors and the mast cells in progression of heart disease.