Expression of catalytically active protein was detected in a murine ma
st cell line, The primary type of AChE mRNA produced by these cells wa
s found to be the brain and muscle type by PCR amplification of altern
ative exons from the 3' of mast cells AChE cDNA. AChE was further foun
d to be expressed in the HMC-1 the human mast cell precursor line, Fur
thermore, utilizing the single cell RT-PCR method we detected AChE mRN
A expression in Fc epsilon RI-positive single cells derived from human
colonic mucosal biopsies. Our findings predict the involvement of mas
t cell. AChE in neuronal-mast cell interactions.