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Degradation Process of Mycobacterium leprae Cells in Infected Tissue Examined by the Freeze‐Substitution Method in Electron Microscopy
Author(s) -
Amako Kazunobu,
Takade Akemi,
Umeda Akiko,
Matsuoka Masanori,
Yoshida Shinichi,
Nakamura Masahiro
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
microbiology and immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.664
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1348-0421
pISSN - 0385-5600
DOI - 10.1111/j.1348-0421.2003.tb03375.x
Subject(s) - mycobacterium leprae , electron microscope , biology , substitution (logic) , degradation (telecommunications) , mycobacterium , microscopy , microbiology and biotechnology , bacteria , leprosy , pathology , immunology , optics , medicine , genetics , physics , telecommunications , computer science , programming language
Mycobacterium leprae cells (strain Thai‐53) harvested from infected mouse foot pads were examined by electron microscopy using the freeze‐substitution technique. The population of M. leprae cells from the infected tissue consisted of a large number of degraded cells and a few normal cells. These thin sectioned cell profiles could be categorized into four groups depending on the alteration of the membrane structures, and the degradation process is considered to occur in stages, namely from stages 1 to 3. These are the normal cells with an asymmetrical membrane, a seemingly normal cell but with a symmetrical membrane (stage 1), a cell possessing contracted and highly concentrated cytoplasm with a membrane (stage 2), and a cell that has lost its membrane (stage 3). The peptidoglycan layer was found to remain intact in these cell groups.