Morphologic and immunoelectronmicroscopic identification of human T-cell lymphotropic virus type III (HTLV-III).

The AIDS associated HTLV-III virus infected H9 cells were extensively studied using light, scanning and transmission electronmicroscopy. It was demonstrated that the morphological features of HTLV-III are different from the C-type particles and are similar to those of lentiviridae. For immunological identification high titer pre-AIDS patient sera served as the anti-HTLV-III envelope antibody source. The immunoelectronmicroscopic method was able to identify the viral envelope antigen on the surface of infected cells and in certain areas of the viral envelope. This is the first application of immunoelectronmicroscopy for the identification of the HTLV-III virus.