The Adipose Mast Cell: Mastokines As Binary Modulators Of Disease Processes

A paradigm-shifting discovery of the hormone leptin (in the end of 1994) paved the way toward intensive studies on endocrine and paracrine function of the adipose tissue. Onwards, a wide range of signaling proteins collectively termed adipokines were identified as secretory products of adipose cells including mast cells, a “classical” companion of this tissue. The present review addresses the potential translational relevance of adipose paracrine signaling pertinent to various diseases, particularly atherosclerosis, metabolic syndrome, thyroid-associated (Graves’) ophthalmopathy, and breast and prostate cancer, with special reference to binary (protective versus pathogenic) roles of mastokines, mast cell-derived signaling proteins.