Entry and uncoating of HHV-8: electron-microscopic (EM) analyses of fMVDEC 1 hour after incubation with HHV-8.

Please note that in panels B, D, and E, an enlargement of the virion is circled and superimposed on the base figure. (A) An overview. The main panel shows multiple electron-dense herpeslike virions (average diameter, approximately 110 nm) attached to a cytoplasmic extension on the superior surface of an fMVDEC (× 47 000). The virions are aligned and give the appearance of centripetal movement; bar, 1000 nM. Insets demonstrate virions on the cell surface and in the cytoplasm in the perinuclear region of the same fMVDEC. The left inset (× 25 000) shows electron-dense virions enclosed within a thin-walled vacuole, consistent with recent endocytosis; bar, 500 nM. The right inset (× 31 000) shows an enveloped virion attached to the cell surface with membranelike material in contact with the cell, while a dense, symmetric nucleocapsid-type structure is present at the periphery of the nucleus (arrow); bar 500 nM. (B) The viral envelope fusing with a cellular membrane, most likely the plasma membrane (× 125 000). (C) A nucleocapsid devoid of its envelope that has been released in the cytosol (× 75 000). (D) An intracytoplasmic nucleocapsid distant from the nucleus and in close proximity to a microtubularlike structure (× 55 000). (E) A nucleocapsid can be clearly visualized within a cytoplasmic vesicle; it is probably an endosome or lysosome (× 95 000).