Annulate lamellae and lytic HAV infection in vitro

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between viral infection and annulate lamellae (AL) production by using quantitative and qualitative electron microscopy to document the size and numbers of AL in BS-C-1 cells infected with a lytic strain of hepatitis A virus (HAV). The progress of the HAV infection was found to occur in two phases. In phase 1, cell proliferation and cell death were roughly the same as that of the mock infected control, but there was an increase with time in the amount of hepatitis A antigen in the infected cells. In phase 2 cell division was minimal and cell death became manifest. AL were detected in both infected and control cells. Quantitative analysis indicated that the average number of AL was greater in infected cells compared to that in control cells in phase 1; in infected cells there were greater numbers of AL in phase 1 than in phase 2; the average number of membraneous leaves/AL was greater in infected cells than in control cells. Quantitative analysis also indicated that AL were very rare, with only about three AL per entire control cell and eight AL per entire infected cell. The study clearly establishes that viral infection can stimulate AL production. The data suggest stimulation of AL production in the virus infected cells was linked to the synthesis of viral antigen. Ultrastructural observations indicated that AL could be derived from either the rough endoplasmic reticulum or the nuclear membrane.