Tryptose phosphate broth as supplementary factor for maintenance of HeLa cell tissue cultures

Development of Serum-Free Media for Lepidopteran Insect Cell Lines

Baculovirus-based Insect Cell Technology (ICT) is widely used for the expression of recombinant heterologous proteins and baculovirus bioinsecticides, and has recently gained momentum as a commercial manufacturing platform for human and veterinary vaccines. The three key components of ICT are the Lepidopteran insect cell line, the baculovirus vector, and the growth medium. Insect cell growth media have evolved significantly in the past five decades, from basal media supplemented with hemolymph or animal serum, to highly optimized serum-free media and feeds (SFM and SFF) capable of supporting very high cell densities and recombinant protein yields. The substitution of animal sera with protein hydrolysates in SFM results in greatly reduced medium costs and much improved process scalability. However, both sera and hydrolysates share the disadvantage of lot-to-lot variability, which is detrimental to process reproducibility. Hence, the industrialization of ICT would benefit greatly from chemically defined media (CDM) for insect cells, which are not yet commercially available. On the other hand, applications such as baculovirus bioinsecticides would need truly low cost serum-free media and feeds (LC-SFM and LC-SFF) for economic viability, which require the substitution of a majority of expensive added amino acids with even higher levels of hydrolysates, hence increasing the risk of a variable process. CDM developments are anticipated to benefit both conventional and low cost ICT applications, by identifying key growth factors in hydrolysates for more targeted media and feed design.

CORRELATION OF PRODUCTION OF INFECTIOUS VIRUS WITH SEQUENTIAL STAGES OF CYTOLOGIC ALTERATION IN HELA CELLS INFECTED WITH ADENOVIRUSES TYPES 5 AND 7

Studies correlating the production of infectious adenovirus (types 5 and 7) and the progression of the stages of virus-induced cytologic change in HeLa cells are presented. The results reveal a close relationship between the development of the characteristic nuclear changes and adenovirus synthesis. They suggest that cells manifesting the first stages of nuclear change, characterized by the appearance of eosinophilic, Feulgen-negative inclusions, contain little or no mature infectious virus, whereas cells in the later stages, with Feulgen-positive and basophilic inclusions, contain relatively large amounts.

Intracellular localization of type 4 adenovirus. I. Cellular fractionation studies

HeLa cells infected with types 1 or 4 adenovirus were separated into cytoplasmic and nuclear fractions by mechanical disruption and differential centrifugation and the quantity of infectious virus in each was determined. The results showed that the majority of infectious virus of both types could be isolated in the cytoplasmic fraction. It was not possible to explain the large amount of type 4 virus in the cytoplasmic fraction by the number of nuclei disrupted in the fractionation procedure, but the amount of type 1 virus in the cytoplasmic fraction could have been contributed by disrupted nuclei. This suggested that there might be a basic difference in the intracellular formation of the two types of virus. The intracellular distribution of complement-fixing antigen was similar to that of infectious virus in type 4-infected cells. Technical difficulties, inherent in cellular fractionation studies, were encountered but did not appear to explain the results obtained.

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and protein alterations in HeLa cells infected with type 4 adenovirus

During a single cycle of multiplication of type 4 adenovirus in HeLa cells an average 2-fold increase in total DNA occurred over that measured in uninfected cells. Of the total DNA from infected cells about 23 per cent was extractable into 0.15 M NaCl, a quantity approximately four and a half times greater than that of the DNA obtained from normal cells in 0.15 M NaCl. Ninety to 99 per cent of infectious virus was also extracted into the 0.15 M NaCl fraction. Concurrently with the accumulation of DNA in virus-infected cells there occurred a 2-fold increase in total protein. The proportionate increases in protein were approximately equal in 0.15 M NaCl and water extracts of infected cells. High speed centrifugation indicated that the bulk of the DNA and protein was not directly associated with infectious viral particles. Although in virus-infected cells a markedly increased synthesis occurred of a DNA which had solubility properties different from the major portion of normal host DNA, nucleotide analysis did not reveal any other qualitative differences. However, a marked change in nucleotide molar ratios was observed in the 0.15 M NaCl-soluble DNA from virus-infected cells. It seems apparent from the findings that the biochemical alterations found in HeLa cells infected with type 4 adenovirus are intimately related to the infectious process.

In vitro differentiation of virulent and attenuated polioviruses by their growth characteristics on MS cells

The MS character of polio-virus particles is described. Strains that produced relatively large plaques, up to 6 mm. in diameter, on a monkey stable (MS) cell line, were classified as MS⁺. Such strains were found to include the highly virulent poliovirus strains. Attenuated strains appeared deficient in this gene, for they produced tiny plaques less than 1 mm. in size, or no visible plaques at all; they were considered as MS mutants. Strains of maximum neurovirulence for the monkey possessed the MS⁺ and d⁺ characters, while those of greatest attenuation were MS d. Strains possessing the MS d⁺ character showed high or intermediate attenuation. Virulent strains grew equally well in MS or primary monkey kidney (MK) cells. Attenuated strains gave lower titers in MS cultures than in MK cultures. While MS cells after infection with a virulent virus yielded about 100 to 200 PFU per cell, only one PFU per MS cell was detected after infection with an attenuated virus. A study of newly isolated Type 3 strains showed them to consist of the MS⁺d⁺ or MS d⁺ type. The MS⁺d⁺ virus proved to be highly paralytogenic for monkeys even by the intramuscular route, while the MS d⁺ virus was of the partially attenuated type. The study of in vitro characters of viruses from children fed attenuated poliovirus offers a possibility for following genetic changes of the viruses after multiplication in the human enteric tract.

Intracellular localization of type 4 adenovirus. II. Cytological and fluorescein-labelled antibody studies

HeLa cell cultures infected with adenovirus type 4 were studied by light and phase-contrast microscopy and by the fluorescent antibody technique for visualization of intracellular antigen. The findings were correlated with the growth curve of infectious virus, determined from companion cultures. The results indicated that those cells undergoing characteristic structural changes observable by light microscopy were those which contain viral antigen. The distribution of the majority of the antigen within the infected cells corresponded to that of the regularly aligned granules and crystal-like masses seen in the nuclei of cells in stained and in unfixed cultures. The production of infectious virus was closely correlated with the development of the characteristic nuclear changes.

Characterization of a factor formed in the course of adenovirus infection of tissue cultures causing detachment of cells from glass

Infectious tissue culture fluids of the majority of serotypes of adenovirus at low dilutions detach HeLa or KB cells from glass surfaces within a few hours after inoculation. A reproducible method for testing cell detachment was devised. The factor present in infectious tissue culture fluids and responsible for cell detachment is trypsin-sensitive and non-dialyzable; it is smaller and more resistant to the effect of heat or ultraviolet light than the infectious virus particle. Cell detachment activity was found to be temperature-dependent, and the cell-detaching titer of infectious tissue culture fluids was not affected by repeated exposure to HeLa cells. Inhibition of cell detachment by human or rabbit sera was observed only when other antibodies to adenovirus antigens were also present, but the antibody inhibiting cell detachment could not be correlated quantitatively with complement-fixing or homologous neutralizing antibody.

Sequential cellular changes produced by types 5 and 7 adenoviruses in HeLa cells and in human amniotic cells; cytological studies aided by fluorescein-labelled antibody

The sequential cytological changes which develop in tissue culture cells infected with adenovirus types 5 and 7 are described and compared with those produced by adenovirus types 1, 2, 3, and 4. The evidence that is presented indicates that types 1, 2, and 5 belong to one major subdivision of the adenovirus group and types 3, 4, and 7 to another. That the host cell nucleus is the principal site of adenovirus synthesis has been confirmed by fluorescent antibody studies. They have demonstrated the occurrence of type-specific adenovirus antigen in the characteristic intranuclear inclusions and other virus-induced structures reported to contain virus-like particles or shown by electronmicroscopy.

Nucleuc acid synthesis in types 4 and 5 adenovirus-infected HeLa cells

Type 4 adenovirus infection of HeLa cells effected a marked increase in synthesis of the saline-soluble DNA fraction, but not the host-cell DNA (the water-soluble fraction). This was demonstrated by the marked increase in specific activity of saline-soluble DNA but not water-soluble DNA when P³²-inorganic phosphate or sodium formate-C¹⁴ was employed. When these isotopes were used to label cells before viral infection rather than during the process of viral propagation, the saline-soluble DNA from infected cells had a specific activity of 10 to 20 per cent less than that of uninfected cells, indicating that the saline-soluble DNA was synthesized both from prelabeled precursors of the cell pools and unlabeled materials from the medium. Saline-soluble DNA began to increase between 10 to 12 hours after viral infection and 3 to 4 hours before appearance of newly propagated infectious virus. The specific activity of the acid-soluble pool of infected cells also increased between 10 to 12 hours after viral inoculation when sodium formate-C¹⁴ was used as a radioisotope. When P³²-inorganic phosphate was utilized, the specific activity of infected-cell RNA was increased approximately the same relative amount as when total RNA was determined chemically; i.e., 30 to 40 per cent. With type 5 adenovirus, not only did a 3- to 5-fold increase in saline-soluble DNA occur, but also an increase was measured in specific activity of RNA when P³²-inorganic phosphate was used.

Changing viral susceptibility of a human cell line in continuous cultivation. I. Production of infective virus in a variant of the Chang conjunctival cell following infection with swine or N-WS influenza viruses

During its serial transfer and cultivation in this laboratory, a human conjunctival cell line (Chang) was observed to change in morphology. Concurrently no change was noted in the susceptibility of the cells to viruses capable of infecting the original cell line. However, it was noted that the derived variant cell line had acquired susceptibility to the induction of cytopathic effects and incomplete virus formation by several strains of influenza viruses. It was then discovered that swine influenza virus and the N-WS strain of influenza A virus could be serially propagated in the derived cell line with production of infective virus. The swine virus required adaptation, but the N-WS strain did not. N-WS and swine influenza viruses multiply with infective virus formation only in the variant conjunctival cell and in no other cell line. Antigenic, cytologic, and virologic evidence is presented that the influenza virus-susceptible variant cell is of human origin and is not a contaminating cell exogenously introduced. Transition of a cell line from complete insusceptibility to susceptibility to virus infection and multiplication has not been described previously.

Synthesis of virus-specific polymers in adenovirus-infected cells; effect of 5-fluorodeoxyuridine

Biochemical synthesis in adenovirus-infected HeLa cells was studied utilizing 5-fluorodeoxyuridine (5-FUDR), a potent inhibitor of deoxyribonucleic acid production. Synthesis of saline-soluble DNA and infectious virus was completely suppressed by addition of the analogue to cells as late as 10 hours after infection. The inhibitory effect of this compound was totally reversed by addition of 10^–6M thymidine to the culture medium. Synthesis of DNA essential for virus production began 10 hours after infection and was completed by 16 hours after infection. These data support the hypothesis that the saline-soluble DNA is a precursor of infectious virus particles. Studies of antigen production indicated that formation of virus-specific proteins was directly dependent upon synthesis of DNA.

Isolation and characterization of temperature-sensitive mutants of adenovirus type 7

Fifty temperature-sensitive mutants, which replicate at 32 degrees C but not at 39.5 degrees C, were isolated after mutagenesis of the vaccine strain of adenovirus type 7 with hydroxylamine (mutation frequency of 9.0%) or nitrous acid (mutation frequency of 3.8%). Intratypic complementation analyses separated 46 of these mutants into seven groups. Intertypic complementation tests with temperature-sensitive mutants of adenovirus type 5 showed that the mutant in complementation group A failed to complement H5ts125 (a DNA-binding protein mutant), that mutants in group B and C did not complement adenovirus type 5 hexon mutants, and that none of the mutants was defective in fiber production. Further phenotypic characterization showed that at the nonpermissive temperature the mutant in group A failed to make immunologically reactive DNA-binding protein, mutants in groups B and C were defective in transport of trimeric hexons to the nucleus, mutants in groups D, E, and F assembled empty capsids, and mutants in group G assembled DNA-containing capsids as well as empty capsids. The mutants of the complementation groups were physically mapped by marker rescue, and the mutations were localized between the following map coordinates: groups B and C between 50.4 and 60.2 map units (m.u.), groups D and E between 29.6 and 36.7 m.u., and group G between 36.7 and 42.0 m.u. or 44.0 and 47.0 m.u. The mutant in group A proved to be a double mutant.

Characterization of a temperature-sensitive fiber mutant of type 5 adenovirus and effect of the mutation on virion assembly

A temperature-sensitive, fiber-minus mutant of type 5 adenovirus, H5ts142, was biochemically and genetically characterized. Genetic studies revealed that H5ts142 was a member of one of the three apparent fiber complementation groups which were detected owing to intracistronic complementation. Recombination analyses showed that it occupied a unique locus at the right end of the adenovirus genetic map. At the nonpermissive temperature, the mutant made stable polypeptides, but they were not glycosylated like wild-type fiber polypeptides. Sedimentation studies of extracts of H5ts142-infected cells cultured and labeled at 39.5 degrees C indicated that a limited number of the fiber polypeptides made at the nonpermissive temperature could assemble into a form having a sedimentation value of 6S (i.e., similar to the trimeric wild-type fiber), but that this 6S structure was not immunologically reactive. When H5ts142-infected cells were shifted to the permissive temperature, 32 degrees C, fiber polypeptides synthesized at 39.5 degrees C were as capable of being assembled into virions as fibers synthesized in wild type-infected cells; de novo protein synthesis was not required to allow this virion assembly. In H5ts142-infected cells incubated at 39.5 degrees C, viral proteins accumulated and aggregated into particles having physical characteristics of empty capsids. These particles did not contain DNA or its associated core proteins. However, when the infected culture was shifted to 32 degrees C, DNA appeared to enter the empty particles and complete virions developed. The intermediate particles obtained had the morphology of adenoviruses, but they contained less than unit-length viral genomes as measured by their buoyant density in a CsCl density gradient and the size of their DNA as determined in both neutral and alkaline sucrose gradients. The reduced size of the intermediate particle DNA was demonstrated to be the result of incompletely packaged DNA molecules being fragmented during the preparative procedures. Hybridization of labeled DNA extracted from the intermediate particles to filters containing restriction fragments of the adenovirus genome indicated that the molecular left end of the viral genome preferentially entered these particles.

Characterization of two temperature-sensitive mutants of type 5 adenovirus with mutations in the 100,000-dalton protein gene

Complementation analysis assigned the mutations of strains H5ts115 and H5ts116, two hexon-minus mutants, to the 100,000-dalton (100K) protein gene. Heterotypic marker rescue (i.e., type 5 adenovirus [Ad5] temperature-sensitive mutants DNA X EcoRI restriction fragments of Ad2 DNA) confirmed the results of previous marker rescue mapping studies, and the heterotypic recombinants yielded unique hybrid (Ad5-Ad2) 100K proteins which were intermediate in size between Ad5 and Ad2 proteins and appeared to be as functionally active as the wild-type 100K protein. Phenotypic characterization of these mutants showed that both the hexon polypeptides and the 100K polypeptides were unstable at the nonpermissive temperature, whereas fiber and penton were not degraded, and that the 100K protein made at 39.5 degrees C could not be utilized after a shift to the permissive temperature (32 degrees C). The role of the 100K protein in the assembly of the hexon trimer was also examined by in vitro protein synthesis. Normally, hexon polypeptides synthesized during an in vitro reaction are assembled into immunoreactive hexons. However, this assembly was inhibited by preincubation of the cell extract with anti-100K immunoglobulin G; neither anti-fiber immunoglobulin G nor normal rabbit immunoglobulin G inhibited hexon assembly. It is postulated that an interaction between the 100K protein and hexon polypeptides is required for effective assembly of hexon trimers.

Characterization of a temperature-sensitive, hexon transport mutant of type 5 adenovirus

Infection of KB cells at 39.5 degrees C with H5ts147, a temperature-sensitive (ts) mutant of type 5 adenovirus, resulted in the cytoplasmic accumulation of hexon antigen; all other virion proteins measured, however, were normally transported into the nucleus. Immunofluorescence techniques were used to study the intracellular location of viral proteins. Genetic studies revealed that H5ts147 was the single member of a nonoverlapping complementation group and occupied a unique locus on the adenovirus genetic map, distinct from mutants that failed to produce immunologically reactive hexons at 39.5 degrees C ("hexon-minus" mutants). Sedimentation studies of extracts of H5ts147-infected cells cultured and labeled at 39.5 degrees C revealed the production of 12S hexon capsomers (the native, trimeric structures), which were immunoprecipitable to the same extent as hexons synthesized in wild type (WT)-infected cells. In contrast, only 3.4S polypeptide chains were found in extracts of cells infected with the class of mutants unable to produce immunologically reactive hexon protein at 39.5 degrees C. Hexons synthesized in H5ts147-infected cells at 39.5 degrees C were capable of being assembled into virions, to the same extent as hexons synthesized in WT-infected cells, when the temperature was shifted down to the permissive temperature, 32 degrees C. Infectious virus production was initiated within 2 to 6 h after shift-down to 32 degrees C; de novo protein synthesis was required to allow this increase in viral titer. If ts147-infected cells were shifted up to 39.5 degrees C late in the viral multiplication cycle, viral production was arrested within 1 to 2 h. The kinetics of shutoff was similar to that of a WT-infected culture treated with cycloheximide at the time of shift-up. The P-VI nonvirion polypeptide, the precursor to virion protein VI, was unstable at 39.5 degrees C, whereas the hexon polypeptide was not degraded during the chase. It appears that there is a structural requirement for the transport of hexons into the nucleus more stringent than the acquisition of immunological reactivity and folding into the 12S form.

Selection and preliminary characterization of temperature-sensitive mutants of type 5 adenovirus

Eight temperature-sensitive (ts) mutants that replicate normally at 32 C but poorly, if at all, at 39.5 C have been isolated from mutagenized stocks of a wild-type strain of type 5 adenovirus. Three mutagens were employed: nitrous acid, hydroxylamine, and nitrosoguanidine. Ts mutants were isolated from mutagenized viral stocks with frequencies between 0.01 and 0.1%. All eight mutants had reversion frequencies of 10(-5) or less. Complementation experiments in doubly infected cultures at the nonpermissive temperature separated the mutants into three nonoverlapping complementation groups. Complementation yields ranged from a 2.3- to a 3,000-fold increase over the sums of the yields from the two singly infected controls. Genetic recombination was also demonstrated; approximate recombination frequencies ranged from 0.1 to 15%. Preliminary biochemical and immunological characterization of the mutants indicated that: (i) the single mutant in complementation group I did not replicate its deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) or synthesize late proteins at the nonpermissive temperature but did inhibit host DNA synthesis to 25% of an uninfected control; (ii) the four group II mutants replicated viral DNA, shut off host DNA synthesis, synthesized penton base and fiber, but did not synthesize immunologically detectable hexon; the three mutants in complementation group III synthesized viral DNA, shut off host DNA synthesis, and made immunologically reactive capsid proteins (hexon, penton base, and fiber).

Role of adenovirus structural proteins in the cessation of host-cell biosynthetic functions

Two of the adenovirus capsid proteins, the fiber and the hexon, complexed with either KB cell or type 5 adenovirus deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Maximal binding occurred at 0.01 m NaCl; increasing the ionic strength of the reaction mixture to 0.2 m NaCl resulted in a decrease in the association of either antigen to DNA. Variations of pH between 6.3 and 8.4 did not affect the binding of fiber antigen to DNA. Below pH 7.5, however, there was a small decrease in the ability of the hexon to bind nucleic acid. The association between the adenovirus structural proteins and DNA was reversible and was independent of whether the DNA was native or denatured. The fiber or hexon protein inhibited the DNA-dependent ribonucleic acid (RNA) polymerase and the DNA polymerase from KB cells. On a weight basis, the fiber protein inhibited enzymatic activity to a greater extent than the hexon. Increasing the template DNA concentration decreased this inhibition. The inhibition of the DNA-dependent RNA polymerase activity by either antigen could be reversed by increasing the ionic strength of the reaction mixture. After infection of KB cells with type 5 adenovirus, the levels of DNA and RNA polymerases remained unchanged for 15 to 20 hr. Thereafter, the specific activity of both enzymes decreased. By 30 hr postinfection, the polymerase activities were only about 30% of the enzyme activities in uninfected cells.

Mechanism by which fiber antigen inhibits multiplication of type 5 adenovirus

Purified fiber antigen of type 5 adenovirus inhibited the multiplication of type 5 adenovirus by 50% when 35 mug of fiber antigen protein was added to 10(6) KB cells in suspension culture. Although the fiber antigen reduced the number of virions adsorbed per cell when a multiplicity of infection of 50,000 plaque-forming units (PFU)/cell was employed, the number of cells infected was not diminished under these conditions. If a low multiplicity of infection (1.1 PFU/cell) was used, viral adsorption was not detectably decreased. The fiber antigen did not reduce the capability of virions to liberate their viral deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). The biosyntheses of DNA, ribonucleic acid (RNA), and protein were blocked about 20 to 25 hr after the addition of fiber antigen to cultures of uninfected or type 5 adenovirus-infected KB cells. Most of the fiber antigen protein became cell-associated between 22 and 36 hr after it was added to cells. The hexon antigen neither inhibited viral multiplication nor blocked the biosynthesis of DNA, RNA, or protein. Moreover, the hexon did not attach to KB cells. The profound effects of the fiber antigen were not due to the induction of an interferon-like substance, for actinomycin D did not reduce the ability of the fiber to inhibit multiplication of type 1 poliovirus.

Activity of aspartate transcarbamylase in uninfected and type 5 adenovirus-infected HeLa cells

Consigli, Richard A. (University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia), and Harold S. Ginsberg. Activity of aspartate transcarbamylase in uninfected and type 5 adenovirus-infected HeLa cells. J. Bacteriol. 87:1034-1043. 1964.-A two- to three-fold increase in aspartate transcarbamylase (ATCase) activity was observed in type 5 adenovirus-infected HeLa cells 18 hr after infection. The enhanced enzyme activity was virus-specific and dependent on biosynthesis of deoxyribonucleic acid and protein. When various characteristics as well as the kinetics of the enzymes from uninfected and infected cells were compared, ATCase from adenovirus-infected cells was shown to have an altered pH optimum, greater heat stability, increased maximal velocity, and increased K(m) value for aspartate.

Role of ribonucleic acid biosynthesis in multiplication of type 5 adenovirus

Flanagan, John F. (University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia), and Harold S. Ginsberg. Role of ribonucleic acid biosynthesis in multiplication of type 5 adenovirus. J. Bacteriol. 87:977-987. 1964.-The requirement for ribonucleic acid (RNA) biosynthesis in the multiplication of type 5 adenovirus was investigated by using radioactive phosphorus to label nucleic acids and two pyrimidine analogues, 6-azauridine and 5-fluorouracil or 5-fluorouridine, to inhibit synthesis of functional RNA. The data indicate that biosynthesis of RNA after infection is essential for production of virus-specific deoxyribonucleic acid, virus antigens, and infectious particles. The onset of essential RNA synthesis occurs 8 to 9 hr after virus infection and prior to the biosynthesis of other known virus-induced macromolecules.

Biological properties of ribonucleic acid from virulent and attenuated poliovirus

Concentrates of type I poliovirus were extracted with phenol by Gierer and Schramm's method. The infectivity of these extracts in tissue culture and mice appeared to be associated with viral RNA. Studies on neurovirulence based on the "t" marker and intraspinal pathogenicity in mice demonstrated that the viral progeny of RNA isolated from virulent viruses had the "t(+)" character and were highly neurotropic for mice. Conversely, RNA extracted from attenuated virus gave rise to a progeny of "t" type which were avirulent for mice. The results suggest that the infective RNA from type, I poliovirus carries the genetic information which determines the degree of neurovirulence.

Characteristics on the adenoviruses. III. Reproductive cycle of types 1 to 4

The strains of types 1 to 4 adenoviruses studied attained maximum combination with host cells, strain HeLa, in 5 to 6 hours. During this adsorption period approximately 75 per cent of the total virus became associated with the host cells. Following adsorption of virus to HeLa cells, these agents underwent cyclic multiplication periods similar to bacterial and other animal viruses. The latent or eclipse period of the multiplication cycle for types 1 and 2 viruses was 17 hours, whereas the types 3 and 4 agents had a latent period 14 to 15 hours in length. The rate of viral propagation during the incremental period was very similar for types 1, 2, and 4 viruses, but was slower for the type 3 agent. During the incremental period of viral propagation newly synthesized virus was not released into the fluid phase of the culture and even after 6 days of viral multiplication when marked cytopathic alterations of the infected HeLa cells had occurred, the spontaneous release was only 2 to 6 per cent of the total virus detectable.

Electron microscopy of HeLa cells after the ingestion of colloidal gold

Tissue cultures of HeLa cells were grown in media containing colloidal gold, and after various intervals, the cells were fixed, embedded, and sectioned for electron microscopy. Uncoated grids with small holes were used in many of the experiments. Intracellular particles of gold were identified in areas surrounded by single membranes, in moderately dense granules, in globoid bodies, and in the cytoplasmic matrix. Gold particles were not found in typical mitochondria, Golgi complex, ergastoplasm (granular forms of endoplasmic reticulum), or nuclei. The phenomenon of pinocytosis was considered to be the most likely means by which the gold particles were ingested, and the locations of gold particles appeared to have significance concerning theories that membranous organelles of the cytoplasm may be derived from the cell membrane.

Electron microscopy of HeLa cells infected with adenoviruses

HeLa cells were infected with adenoviruses (types 1-4) and sectioned for electron microscopy after intervals of 20 to 48 hours. Clusters of virus-like particles were found within the nuclei of infected cultures but not in those of uninfected controls. The particles were often arranged in rows as if in crystalline formation. Maximal diameter of particles was approximately 65 mmicro, and internal bodies were demonstrated. Lesions of infected cells included target-like structures of the nuclear membrane, large nuclear vacuoles (type 2), and increased numbers of large irregular electron-dense granules in the cytoplasm 48 hours after infection. Examination of infected cultures by light microscopy, using the Feulgen reaction, showed intranuclear inclusion bodies and a cytopathogenic effect consisting of clumping of cells without pyknosis of nuclei. A lipide stain showed numerous cytoplasmic granules that were not identical with the large, irregular, electron-dense granules of the cytoplasm. Practically all the cells showed the viral cytopathogenic effect, but only a minority of cells were found to contain virus-like particles or intranuclear inclusion bodies.

Globoid structures in the cytoplasm of rapidly growing HeLa cells

During the course of electron microscopic study of rapidly growing uninfected HeLa cells, it was found that numerous globoid bodies occurred in the cytoplasm. Reasons are given for suspecting that these structures are mitochondria.