Alternate radiolabeled markers for detecting metabolic activity of Mycobacterium leprae residing in murine macrophages.
This study demonstrated the utility of using 4% NaOH as a murine macrophage cell-solubilizing agent to discriminate between host macrophage metabolism and that of intracellular Mycobacterium leprae. A 4% concentration of NaOH had no deleterious effect on labeled mycobacteria. Thereby, alternate radiolabeled indicators of the metabolic activity of intracellular M. leprae could be experimented with. Significant incorporation of 14C-amino acid mixture, [14C]leucine, [14C]uridine, and carrier-free 32P was observed in cultures containing freshly extracted ("live") strains of M. leprae as compared with control cultures containing autoclaved bacilli.
D000596:Amino Acids / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D008264:Macrophages / Q000382:microbiology*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D009166:Mycobacterium leprae / Q000378:metabolism*; D010761:Phosphorus Radioisotopes; D013936:Thymidine / Q000378:metabolism; D014316:Tritium; D014529:Uridine / Q000378:metabolism
D000596:Amino Acids; D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D010761:Phosphorus Radioisotopes; D014316:Tritium; D013936:Thymidine; D014529:Uridine