Comparison of abnormalities of CMCs and skin mast cells of tg/tg, mi/mi, andmi^ew/mi^ew mice.

(A) Northern blot analysis of RNAs obtained from CMCs of +/+,tg/tg, mi/mi, ormi^ew/mi^ew genotype. The blot was hybridized with ³²P-labeled complementary DNA probe of c-kit, Gr B, TPH, mMCP-4, mMCP-5, mMCP-6, or GAPDH as described previously.11 Twenty micrograms of total RNA was loaded in each lane, and each ³²P-labeled complementary DNA was reprobed using the same membrane. A representative experiment is shown. (B) The amount of mMCP-6, mMCP-5, mMCP-4, c-kit, Gr B, and TPH mRNAs was quantified by the densitometry, and the ratio to the mRNA amount of tg/tg CMCs, which was defined as relative mRNA amount, was calculated. The bars represent the mean ± SE of 3 independent experiments. In some cases, the SE was too small to be shown by the bars. (C) The serotonin contents per 10⁶ +/+,tg/tg, mi/mi, andmi^ew/mi^ew CMCs were measured. The bars represent the mean ± SE of 3 experiments. *P < .05 by t test when compared with the value of tg/tg CMCs. (D) Mast cells were counted, and the number was expressed as mast cells per centimeter of skin. Berberine sulfate–positive mast cells were also counted, and the proportion of berberine sulfate–positive cells to alcian blue–positive cells was calculated. The bars represent the mean ± SE of 5 mice. In some cases, the SE was too small to be shown by the bars. *P< .01 by t test when compared with the value oftg/tg mice.