Gradual changes of influenza virions during passage of undiluted material.

TLDR: The characteristics of protein synthesis in cells infected with these virions are similar to those in uninfected cells, thus revealing analogous defects in the genome of the majority of defective virions.

Abstract: The ability of Mycobacterium leprae to specifically bind α2-laminins of Schwann cells has been described recently as being an important property of the leprosy bacillus, which could explain the neural tropism of M. leprae. Therefore, the extent of the expression of α2-laminin-binding properties among mycobacteria was investigated. In an ELISA-based assay, all three species of Mycobacterium tested (M. tuberculosis, M. chelonae and M. smegmatis) expressed laminin-binding capacity, suggesting that the ability to bind α2-laminins is conserved within the genus Mycobacterium. This report also demonstrated that not only M. leprae but all the mycobacterial species tested readily interacted with the ST88-14 cells, a human schwannoma cell line, and that the addition of soluble α2-laminins significantly increased their adherence to these cells. These results failed to demonstrate the presence in M. leprae of a unique system based on α2-laminins for adherence to Schwann cells.