A mast cell (also known as mastocyte and labrocyte) is a resident cell of several types of tissues and contains many granules rich in histamine and heparin. Although best known for their role in allergy and anaphylaxis, mast cells play an important protective role as well, being intimately involved in wound healing and defense against pathogens.
The mast cell is very similar in both appearance and function to the basophil, a type of white blood cell. However, they are not the same, as they both arise from different cell lines.
Read more about Mast Cell: Origin and Classification, Physiology, Histological Staining
Famous quotes containing the words mast and/or cell:
“To coöperate in the highest as well as the lowest sense, means to get our living together. I heard it proposed lately that two young men should travel together over the world, the one without money, earning his means as he went, before the mast and behind the plow, the other carrying a bill of exchange in his pocket. It was easy to see that they could not long be companions or coöperate, since one would not operate at all. They would part at the first interesting crisis in their adventures.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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—Louise Bogan (1897–1970)