Alba Sabaté San José and Petur Henry Petersen
Introduction. Mast cells (MC) are located in the meninges of the central nervous system (CNS) where they play key roles in the immune response. MC deficient mice are advantageous in delineating the role of MC in the immune response in vivo. Methods. Mouse genetics and histochemistry. Results. Here we illustrate that a mutation in microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (Mitf) affects meningeal MC number in a dosage dependent manner. C57BL/6J-Mitfvga9/vga9 null mice lack meningeal MC completely whereas heterozygous (C57BL/6J-Mitfvga9/+) mice often have a reduced number. Conclusions. We propose that Mitfvga9/+ heterozygous mice might be a valuable tool to study the role of MC in the meninges.
