Surface ultrastructure of SARS coronavirus revealed by atomic force microscopy.
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.
Lin
Shiming
S
Center for Optoelectronic Biomedicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan. sml@ntumc.org
Lee
Chih-Kung
CK
Lee
Shih-Yuan
SY
Kao
Chuan-Liang
CL
Lin
Chii-Wann
CW
Wang
An-Bang
AB
Hsu
Su-Ming
SM
Huang
Long-Sun
LS
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*
D006389:Hemagglutinins, Viral; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D064370:Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; C578557:spike glycoprotein, SARS-CoV