Detection of some dengue-2 virus antigens in infected cells using immuno-microscopy.

Immunoelectron microscopy was used to detect the distribution of some dengue-2 virus proteins in infected Vero and Aedes albopictus (C6/36) cells. It was found that the envelope protein (GP 60) was located in clumps on the surface of plasma membrane, and accumulated very little in the infected cytoplasm. However no envelopment of dengue-2 virus nucleocapsids through the plasma membranes was observed. In contrast, the NS 3 (P 67) protein was distributed throughout the whole cytoplasm. No specific association of this protein with the proliferated virus-induced structures was seen. The NS 1 (GP 46) protein showed almost similar distribution as the NS 3 but its quantity appeared to be lower. The NS 3 and NS 1 distribution patterns observed supported the results of immunofluorescent staining but results on E protein were not consistent in both methods.