Remasking of Candida albicans β-Glucan in Response to Environmental pH Is Regulated by Quorum Sensing.

is a commensal yeast of the human gut which is tolerated by the immune system but has the potential to become an opportunistic pathogen. One way in which achieves this duality is through concealing or exposing cell wall pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) in response to host-derived environment cues (pH, hypoxia, and lactate). This cell wall remodeling allows to evade or hyperactivate the host's innate immune responses, leading to disease.

Engagement of the EP2 prostanoid receptor closes the K+ channel KCa3.1 in human lung mast cells and attenuates their migration.

Human lung mast cells (HLMC) express the Ca(2+)-activated K(+) channel K(Ca)3.1, which plays a crucial role in their migration to a variety of diverse chemotactic stimuli. K(Ca)3.

IgE alone promotes human lung mast cell survival through the autocrine production of IL-6.

Background: Mast cells play a key role in asthma and recent evidence indicates that their ongoing activation in this disease is mediated, in part, via IgE in the absence of antigen. In this study we have examined whether IgE alone enhances human lung mast cell (HLMC) survival.

Methods: Purified HLMC were cultured for 4 weeks and survival assays then performed over 10 days following cytokine withdrawal in the presence or absence of human myeloma IgE.