Fig. 3: Electron microscopy images of Vero E6 cells infected with SARS-CoV-2 variants.
From: Cysteamine exerts in vitro antiviral activity against the SARS-CoV-2 Delta and Omicron variants
Representative electron micrographs of Vero E6 cells at 48 h.p.i. with different SARS-CoV-2 variants, in the absence (A, C, E) or in the presence (B, D, F) of cysteamine treatment. Cells infected with Wild type (A), Delta (C), and Omicron (E) display similar findings: numerous viral particles are visible attached to the cell surface (arrows) and inside membrane-bound vesicles in the cytoplasm (arrowheads). Vacuoles are present in the cytoplasm, many of them consisting in lipolysosomes (LL), and convoluted membranes vesicles (*). Cysteamine treatment completely blocks the infection with Omicron (F), while part of Wild type (B) and Delta (D) treated cells show the presence of viral particles, although reduced in number compared with the untreated cells. N nucleus, m mitochondria. Scale bars: 1 µm.
