Efforts to combat the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have placed a renewed focus on the use of transmission electron microscopy for identifying coronavirus in tissues. In attempts to attribute pathology of COVID-19 patients directly to tissue damage caused by SARS-CoV-2, investigators have inaccurately reported subcellular structures, including coated vesicles, multivesicular bodies, and vesiculating rough endoplasmic reticulum, as coronavirus particles. We describe morphologic features of coronavirus that distinguish it from subcellular structures, including particle size range (60–140 nm), intracellular particle location within membrane-bound vacuoles, and a nucleocapsid appearing in cross section as dense dots (6–12 nm) within the particles. In addition, although the characteristic spikes of coronaviruses may be visible on the virus surface, especially on extracellular particles, they are less evident in thin sections than in negative stain preparations.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, coronavirus disease, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, viruses, respiratory infections, zoonoses, SARS-CoV-2, coronavirus, SARS, electron microscopy, ultrastructure, 【초록키워드】 coronavirus disease, pathology, coronavirus, pandemic, spike, severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus, virus, Endoplasmic reticulum, nucleocapsid, cross, respiratory, characteristic, transmission electron microscopy, COVID-19 patient, focus, thin sections, negative stain, multivesicular bodies, acute respiratory syndrome, Particles, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, tissue damage, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, tissues, damage, investigators, investigator, vesicles, membrane-bound, morphologic features, subcellular structures, Extracellular, caused, reported, addition, less, coated, morphologic feature, 【제목키워드】 Structure, Human, difficulty, electron,