FIGURE 2.

Mycobacterium leprae induces expression of the enzyme adenosine deaminase (ADA) in Schwann cells. (A–C) SCs were infected with M. leprae at a MOI of 5:1. (A) M. leprae increased ADA mRNA expression levels in SCs after 16 h of infection. For this, 3 × 10⁵ SCs were infected, and gene expression was assessed via RT-qPCR. The RPL13 gene was used as the endogenous control gene. (B–G) Immunofluorescence analysis and quantification of ADA expression. 4 × 10⁴ SCs infected with M. leprae for 24 h (B–D) or 48 h (E–G) were stained with antibody against ADA (red) and DAPI as nuclear stain (blue). Scale bar: 20 µm. (C,F) Mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) was quantified using ImageJ software. (D,G) Estimation plot showing that M. leprae induced ADA expression in SCs 24 h and 48 h post-infection in the three biological replicates; however, in (C) the statistical difference was not reached. (E) M. leprae significantly increased the expression of the ADA enzyme in SCs 48 h post-infection. NI = not infected. All data mean ± SD. Statistical significance determined using parametric Student’s t-test: *p < 0.05.