01707nas a2200337   4500000000100000008004100001260000900042653001200051653001800063653001800081653001400099653000900113653002400122653001200146653000900158653002400167653002500191653002500216653001800241100001200259700001300271700001200284700001500296700001400311700001500325245014000340300001100480490000700491520085700498022001401355       2003                            d  c200310aAnimals10aBacteriolysis10aCell Membrane10aCytoplasm10aFoot10aFreeze Substitution10aleprosy10aMice10aMice, Inbred BALB C10aMicroscopy, Electron10aMycobacterium leprae10aPeptidoglycan1 aAmako K1 aTakade A1 aUmeda A1 aMatsuoka M1 aYoshida S1 aNakamura M00aDegradation process of Mycobacterium leprae cells in infected tissue examined by the freeze-substitution method in electron microscopy.  a387-940 v473 a<p>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.</p>  a0385-5600