RAMÍREZ-PONCE , M. Pilar

Aims: Microglia survey the brain environment by sensing alarm signals to provide the first line of defense against injury or infection after which they acquire an activated phenotype, but they also respond to chemical signals sent from brain mast cells, sentinels of the immune system, when these are degranulated in response to noxious agents....

Symposium in Chromaffin Cell Biology (2003. La Palma)

An endocytic vesicle is formed from a flat plasma membrane patch by a sequential process of invagination, bud formation and fission. The scission step requires the formation of a tubular membrane neck (the fission pore) that connects the endocytic vesicle with the plasma membrane. Progress in vesicle fission can be measured by the formation and...

Background/Aims: Microglia are the dynamic motile phagocytes of the brain considered the first line of defense against threats or disturbances to the Central Nervous System (CNS). Microglia help orchestrate the immunological response by interacting with others immune cells. Mast cells (MCs) are effector cells of the innate immune system...

Background: Mast cells (MCs) in the brain can respond to environmental cues and relay signals to neurons that may directly influence neuronal electrical activity, calcium signaling, and neurotransmission. MCs also express receptors for neurotransmitters and consequently can be activated by them. Here, we developed a coculture model of...