tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Emerg Infect Dis
. 2021 Feb 18;27(4).
doi: 10.3201/eid2704.204337. Online ahead of print.
Difficulties in Differentiating Coronaviruses from Subcellular Structures in Human Tissues by Electron Microscopy
Hannah A Bullock, Cynthia S Goldsmith, Sherif R Zaki, Roosecelis B Martines, Sara E Miller
Abstract
Efforts to combat the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have placed a renewed focus on the use of transmission electron microscopy for identifying coronavirus in tissues. In attempts to attribute pathology of COVID-19 patients directly to tissue damage caused by SARS-CoV-2, investigators have inaccurately reported subcellular structures, including coated vesicles, multivesicular bodies, and vesiculating rough endoplasmic reticulum, as coronavirus particles. We describe morphologic features of coronavirus that distinguish it from subcellular structures, including particle size range (60-140 nm), intracellular particle location within membrane-bound vacuoles, and a nucleocapsid appearing in cross section as dense dots (6-12 nm) within the particles. In addition, although the characteristic spikes of coronaviruses may be visible on the virus surface, especially on extracellular particles, they are less evident in thin sections than in negative stain preparations.
Keywords: COVID-19; SARS; SARS-CoV-2; coronavirus; coronavirus disease; electron microscopy; respiratory infections; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; ultrastructure; viruses; zoonoses.
. 2021 Feb 18;27(4).
doi: 10.3201/eid2704.204337. Online ahead of print.
Difficulties in Differentiating Coronaviruses from Subcellular Structures in Human Tissues by Electron Microscopy
Hannah A Bullock, Cynthia S Goldsmith, Sherif R Zaki, Roosecelis B Martines, Sara E Miller
- PMID: 33600302
- DOI: 10.3201/eid2704.204337
Abstract
Efforts to combat the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have placed a renewed focus on the use of transmission electron microscopy for identifying coronavirus in tissues. In attempts to attribute pathology of COVID-19 patients directly to tissue damage caused by SARS-CoV-2, investigators have inaccurately reported subcellular structures, including coated vesicles, multivesicular bodies, and vesiculating rough endoplasmic reticulum, as coronavirus particles. We describe morphologic features of coronavirus that distinguish it from subcellular structures, including particle size range (60-140 nm), intracellular particle location within membrane-bound vacuoles, and a nucleocapsid appearing in cross section as dense dots (6-12 nm) within the particles. In addition, although the characteristic spikes of coronaviruses may be visible on the virus surface, especially on extracellular particles, they are less evident in thin sections than in negative stain preparations.
Keywords: COVID-19; SARS; SARS-CoV-2; coronavirus; coronavirus disease; electron microscopy; respiratory infections; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; ultrastructure; viruses; zoonoses.