Three-Dimensional Imaging of Viral Infections.

Three-dimensional (3D) imaging technologies are beginning to have significant impact in the field of virology, as they are helping us understand how viruses take control of cells. In this article we review several methodologies for 3D imaging of cells and show how these technologies are contributing to the study of viral infections and the characterization of specialized structures formed in virus-infected cells. We include 3D reconstruction by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) using serial sections, electron tomography, and focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM).

Metallothioneins for correlative light and electron microscopy.

Structural biologists have been working for decades on new strategies to identify proteins in cells unambiguously. We recently explored the possibilities of using the small metal-binding protein, metallothionein (MT), as a tag to detect proteins in transmission electron microscopy. It had been reported that, when fused with a protein of interest and treated in vitro with gold salts, a single MT tag will build an electron-dense gold cluster ~1 nm in diameter; we provided proof of this principle by demonstrating that MT can be used to detect intracellular proteins in bacteria and eukaryotic cells.

Multilamellar structures and filament bundles are found on the cell surface during bunyavirus egress.

Inside cells, viruses build specialized compartments for replication and morphogenesis. We observed that virus release associates with specific structures found on the surface of mammalian cells. Cultured adherent cells were infected with a bunyavirus and processed for oriented sectioning and transmission electron microscopy.