Figure 1.

Priming of the conjunctival mast cells: Allergens on the conjunctiva are engulfed by dendritic cells and subsequently processed and presented to naïve CD4⁺T cells in the regional secondary lymphoid tissues. The allergen-specific CD4⁺T cell undergoes proliferation and differentiation into IL-4-secreting effector Follicular T helper cells. IL-4 drives the clonal expansion and differentiation of allergen-specific B cells into IgE-secreting plasma cells. The IgE released by the plasma cells binds to Fc$\epsilon$RI on mast cells to render the conjunctival mast cells primed. Created with biorender.com.