Electron microscopy of mitotic cells in a measles-carrier human cell line

Morphology of human cells, carrier of measles virus, using nomarski optics and scanning electron microscopy

A human cell line (Lu106) carrier of measles virus was studied in a Nomarski interference-contrast microscope (NICM) and a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The results from this were correlated with fine structure findings obtained from analyses made in the transmission electron microscope (TEM). In both the NICM and SEM it was possible to identify intracellular perinuclear structures, which most likely represent aggregates of measles nucleocapsids. These structures appeared in the NICM as opaque vesicles and in the SEM as bulges in the flattened cells. The SEM also proved to be used for determining cell surface characteristics specific for the carrier culture, which were lacking in uninfected Lu106 cells. In the carrier culture, there were vesiculated cells with bled-like polymorphic and ridged projections, and cells with webbed cytoplasmic extensions. Ridges and transverse striations observed on these cellular protrusions and on microvilli possibly denote oriented viral nucleocapsids at the cell membrane. Furthermore in the carrier cells, the microvilli were more heterogenous in length and diameter and were more frequently branched or fused together when compared to microvilli in uninfected cells. The results are discussed in view of the available information on the appearance of virus-infected or virus-transformed cells in the SEM, also inregard to the various factors, other than virus infection, which play a role in determining the surface features of monolayer cells.