cells could be due to its lipid composition. It was observed
that some peptides are selective for erythrocytes of different
species as reported by Huang et al.(7). However, if the lipid
constituents of cell membrane for these mast cells were not
different, the increased activity in rat peritoneal mast cell
could be attributed to the presence of a specific receptor in
these cells (35–38).
Acknowledgements: Authors are grateful to Prof. Iolanda Cucco-
via (Chemistry Institute, University of Sa
˜
o Paulo) for her personal
help with all matters related to liposomes preparation and analy-
sis. WFA (CNPq, 300851/98-7) and MSP (CNPq, 500079/90-0) are
researchers for the Brazilian Council for Scientific and Technolo-
gical Development. This work was supported in part by CAPES,
FAPESP Brazilian agencies and CAT-CEPID.
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