Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 29, 2026
Optimized Protocols for Mycobacterium leprae Strain Management: Frozen Stock Preservation and Maintenance in Athymic Nude Mice
Published on: March 23, 2014
Specific lysis by CD8+ T cells of Schwann cells expressing Mycobacterium leprae antigens
1Max-Planck-Institut für Immunbiologie, Freiburg, FRG.
In vitro cultured murine Schwann cells which were devoid of class I and class II gene products of the major histocompatibility complex expressed class I, though not class II, antigens after stimulation with recombinant interferon-gamma. Recombinant IFN-gamma-stimulated Schwann cells after priming with M. leprae were lysed by antigen-specific CD8+ T lymphocytes in vitro. These findings suggest that specific lysis of M. leprae-infected Schwann cells by CD8+ CTL plays a role in leprosy.
In vitro cultured murine Schwann cells which were devoid of class I and class II gene products of the major histocompatibility complex expressed class I, though not class II, antigens after stimulation with recombinant interferon-gamma. Recombinant IFN-gamma-stimulated Schwann cells after priming with M. leprae were lysed by antigen-specific CD8+ T lymphocytes in vitro. These findings suggest that specific lysis of M. leprae-infected Schwann cells by CD8+ CTL plays a role in leprosy.
