Surface peptido-glycolipid filaments on Mycobacterium leprae.

was shown to possess a superficial network of filaments fundamentally identical with the adjuvant active peptido-glycolipid filaments present on all other mycobacteria, and in biologically active wax D derived from and related organisms. Differences between the filaments seen on recovered from human lepromatous tissue and those demonstrated on mycobacteria grown in artificial culture are attributed to the effect of prolonged intracellular existence in a host phagocyte and are given as evidence of sensitivity of peptido-glycolipid to the action of intracellular enzymes.