Filamentous Structures of Type 2 Herpesvirus hominis Infection of the Chorioallantoic Membrane

Abstract

In view of recent recognition of the existence of two Herpesvirus hominis (HVH) types with antigenic and biological differences, an electron microscopic study was undertaken of pocks produced on the choriallantoic membrane of embryonated eggs after infection with type 1 and type 2 HVH strains. Besides the typical morphological features of herpesvirus infection noted by several investigators, it was observed that type 2 HVH also produced microtubules measuring approximately 19 nm in both nucleus and cytoplasm. Although the nature of these filamentous structures is still unclear, consideration is given in this paper to the possibility that they may represent viral structural subunits, aberrant forms or neoantigens.

Hexagonal Arrangement of Filaments in Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2‐Infected Cells

“…Those filamentous and lattice structures, observed by several investigators [1,[3][4][5], have been thought to be characteristic of type 2 HSV-infected cells [1,4]. This was also the case with our HSV isolates.…”

“…Filamentous structures and lattice structures have been observed in the nuclei of cells infected with type 2 but not with type 1 herpes simplex virus (HSV) [1,[3][4][5]. Although the nature of both structures are unknown, the latter structures are considered to represent cross sections of the former [1].…”

Tubular Structures Detected in the Nuclei of Human Embryonal Lung Fibroblasts Infected with Human Cytomegalovirus

“…Characteristic structures which appear consistently in cells productively infected with herpes simplex virus type 2 (6,17,26) and have been referred to as microtubules (6,22) or tubular structures (28) are morphologically distinct from the tubular structures observed in cells infected with HCMV or the above described herpesviruses: the former structures, about 19 nm in diameter, usually show a regular arrangement, each having four adjacent ones, while the latter structures, 60-140 nm in diameter, occasionally show a hexagonal arrangement.…”

“…The resulting pellet was prefixed for 1 hr in 1% glutaraldehyde in 0.1 M cacodylate buffer (pH 7.2), washed well, postfixed with 1% osmium tetroxide in 0.1 M s-collidine buffer, dehydrated and embedded in epoxy resin. Sections made with a diamond knife were stained with uranyl acetate and lead citrate and observed under a Hitachi H-700H electron microscope.With respect to the ultrastructure of HCMV infected cells, several characteristic morphological changes distinct from those observed in other human herpesvirus infected cells have been presented (6,20,25), and these changes could easily be 289…”

“…With respect to the ultrastructure of HCMV infected cells, several characteristic morphological changes distinct from those observed in other human herpesvirus infected cells have been presented (6,20,25), and these changes could easily be 289…”