Journal of General Virology

Fig. 2. Ultra-structural analysis of RSV maturing at the surface of infected cells. (A) The relationship between the RSV filaments forming at the cell surface and the IBs. Plate 1 shows ultra-thin sections from Unicryl-embedded RSV-infected cells immunolabelled with anti-RSV as described in Methods. An open box highlights the apparent interaction of the IB-associated material with the plasma membrane in the absence of RSV filaments. Plate 2 (inset) is a high magnification image (x100000) of a representative region of an IB showing its structured organization. A close inspection of this image reveals the presence of structures that resemble viral RNP cores, some of which are highlighted using black arrows. VF, virus filaments; IB, inclusion bodies; PM, plasma membrane. (B) Early stages in RSV maturation on the surface of infected cells. RSV-infected BHK (plate 1) or Vero C1008 (plate 2) cells were embedded using Epon 812 and processed as described in Methods. (a)–(d) The probable order of RSV budding particle formation from the initial structure that forms (a) to the final mature RSV particle (d). Black arrows highlight the extended spike proteins on the surface of an early budding RSV particle. Plate 3 is a section through the mature virus particle from infected Vero C1008 cells exhibiting the major morphological features: a, surface proteins showing the electron-dense fuzzy coat appearance as described in the text; b, the viral envelope; c, the internal components, e.g. RNP. Plate 4 shows immuno-electron microscopy of RSV-infected cell sections prepared in Unicryl, stained using anti-RSV and decorated with 10 nm colloidal gold particles. RSV budding (VB) from the plasma membrane (PM) is indicated.

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