title: Surface ultrastructure of SARS coronavirus revealed by atomic force microscopy.
abstract: Atomic force microscopy has been used to probe the surface nanostructures of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV). Single crown-like virion was directly visualized and quantitative measurements of the dimensions for the structural proteins were provided. A corona of large, distinctive spikes in the envelope was measured after treatment with hydroxyoctanoic acid. High-resolution images revealed that the surface of each single SARS-CoV was surrounded with at least 15 spherical spikes having a diameter of 7.29 +/- 0.73 nm, which is in close agreement with that of S glycoproteins earlier predicted through the genomes of SARS-CoV. This study represents the first direct characterization of the surface ultrastructures of SARS-CoV particles at the nanometre scale and offers new prospects for mapping viral surface properties.
authors.affiliation: Center for Optoelectronic Biomedicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan. sml@ntumc.org
authors.forename: Shiming
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Chih-Kung
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Shih-Yuan
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Chuan-Liang
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Kao
authors.forename: Chii-Wann
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: An-Bang
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Su-Ming
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: Long-Sun
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D006389:Hemagglutinins, Viral / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000648:ultrastructure; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D045473:Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D064370:Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000648:ultrastructure; D014771:Virion / Q000648:ultrastructure*
chemical_list: D006389:Hemagglutinins, Viral; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D064370:Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; C578557:spike glycoprotein, SARS-CoV