Leprosy is a chronic granulomatous infectious disease caused by the pathogen, Mycobacteriu M. lepromatosis, and the more recently discovered, M. lepromatosis. Described in 1873, M. leprae was among the first microorganisms to be proposed as a cause of a human infectious disease. As an obligate intracellular bacterium, it has still not thus far been reproducibly cultivated in axenic medium or cell cultures. Shepard's mouse footpad assay, therefore, was truly a breakthrough in leprosy research. The generation of immunosuppressed and genetically engineered mice, along with advances in molecular and cellular techniques, has since offered more tools for the study of the M. leprae-induced granuloma. While far from perfect, these new mouse models have provided insights into the immunoregulatory mechanisms responsible for the spectrum of this complex disease.
BT - Immunological reviews C1 - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33660297 DA - 03/2021 DO - 10.1111/imr.12960 J2 - Immunol Rev LA - eng N2 -Leprosy is a chronic granulomatous infectious disease caused by the pathogen, Mycobacteriu M. lepromatosis, and the more recently discovered, M. lepromatosis. Described in 1873, M. leprae was among the first microorganisms to be proposed as a cause of a human infectious disease. As an obligate intracellular bacterium, it has still not thus far been reproducibly cultivated in axenic medium or cell cultures. Shepard's mouse footpad assay, therefore, was truly a breakthrough in leprosy research. The generation of immunosuppressed and genetically engineered mice, along with advances in molecular and cellular techniques, has since offered more tools for the study of the M. leprae-induced granuloma. While far from perfect, these new mouse models have provided insights into the immunoregulatory mechanisms responsible for the spectrum of this complex disease.
PY - 2021 T2 - Immunological reviews TI - Susceptibility and resistance in leprosy: Studies in the mouse model. SN - 1600-065X ER -