Ultrastructural modifications induced by SARS-CoV-2 in Vero cells: a kinetic analysis of viral factory formation, viral particle morphogenesis and virion release.

ABSTRACT: Many studies on SARS-CoV-2 have been performed over short-time scale, but few have focused on the ultrastructural characteristics of infected cells. We used TEM to perform kinetic analysis of the ultrastructure of SARS-CoV-2-infected cells. Early infection events were characterized by the presence of clusters of single-membrane vesicles and stacks of membrane containing nuclear pores called annulate lamellae (AL). A large network of host cell-derived organelles transformed into virus factories was subsequently observed in the cells. As previously described for other RNA viruses, these replication factories consisted of double-membrane vesicles (DMVs) located close to the nucleus. Viruses released at the cell surface by exocytosis harbored the typical crown of spike proteins, but viral part

SUBMITTER: Eymieux S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7809227 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature