01524nas a2200289   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001200055653002300067653001600090653002000106653001200126653000900138653002500147653001700172653001700189653001800206653001700224100001600241700001800257700001400275245008800289300001000377490000700387520082600394022001401220       1980                            d  c1980 Jun10aAnimals10aCulture Techniques10aFibroblasts10aGanglia, Spinal10aleprosy10aMice10aMycobacterium leprae10aNerve Fibers10aPhagocytosis10aSchwann Cells10aTime Factors1 aMukherjee R1 aMahadevan P R1 aAntia N H00aOrganized nerve culture. I. A technique to study the effect of M. leprae infection.  a183-80 v483 a<p>Neonatal dorsal root ganglia were cultivated in vitro by the technique of Murray. Within a week bundles of organized nerve fibers containing proliferating Schwann cells in different phases of axon association and fibroblast cells destined to become peri- or endoneural cells were obtained, peri- or endoneural cells were obtained. Many of these nerve fibers were myelinated within 3-4 weeks. Such 1 or 2 week old cultures were inoculated with M. leprae, and bacilli were found in the cytoplasm of Schwann cells and fibroblasts, demonstrating that these cells are phagocytic in nature and that it is possible to infect them with M. leprae, Schwann cells, mostly in the free or early association phase, engulfed the bacilli, and this affected their further interaction with the axons and subsequent myelin synthesis.</p>  a0148-916X