A CORRELATIVE STUDY BY ELECTRON AND LIGHT MICROSCOPY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF TYPE 5 ADENOVIRUS

Abstract

The evolution of the intranuclear lesion produced by type 5 adenovirus in HEp-2 and HeLa cells is described as seen in the light microscope and the bodies formed in the course of the infection characterized histochemically. Some 12 hours after infection acidophilic protein bodies, without appreciable nucleic acid, first appear in the nucleus and coalesce into a network. Within or in association with this material, deoxyribonucleic acid-containing masses (viral aggregates) are formed which rapidly increase in amount and then coalesce. At the same time, a protein is produced, histochemically different from that of the acidophilic or basophilic structures mentioned, within the infected nucleus, which constitutes a matrix within which regular crystals of a protein, (presumably non-viral) materialize. These structural and histochemical features are correlated with details which have been observed in parallel studies with the electron microscope.