Recent advances in understanding of basophil function and differentiation

Abstract

Basophils are the rarest granulocytes representing less than 1% of peripheral blood leukocytes. Even though basophils have been discovered more than 140 years ago, their roles in immune reactions had long been an enigma, partly because of their rarity and the similarity to tissue-resident mast cells. However, recent development of the analytical tools for basophil research, such as basophil-depletion antibody and basophil-related engineered mice, has uncovered the unique roles of basophils in various immune reactions. Basophils are now appreciated as a critical immune cell in various type 2-immune responses including the induction of chronic allergic inflammation and protective immunity against parasites. In this review, we summarize the recent understandings in the roles of basophils in allergic inflammation with especial focus on skin inflammation. We then focus on our recent findings in the differentiation and maturation pathways of basophils.