Fig. 7: Ultrastructure analysis of ZIKV induces membrane rearrangements in placental cells.

a Representative TEM micrographs of 5 dpi ZIKV-infected placental cells. Convoluted membrane within ER lumen (CM) are localized next to the nucleus (N) shown in left panel. White rectangle denotes the enlarged region shown in right magnification panel. Large number of single membrane cisterna containing aggregated virions (Vi) which closely associated with virus-induced vesicles (Ve) are shown the right magnification panel. Arrowheads and arrows point to Ve and Vi, respectively. Scale bar, 1 μm. b Diameter of ZIKV-induced vesicles is shown in the left panel. The size distribution of Ve is shown in the right panel (n = 145) per ZIKV-infected placenta cells. Results are presented as mean values ± SEM. c Representative images of ZIKV-infected placental cells showing the localization of intracellular organelles depicted in ZIKV-infected cells (a–f). a, b Ve connected to each other through pores are indicated by white arrowheads. Scale bar, 100 nm. c, d Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) containing virions (Vi) are indicated by the white arrow, mitochondrion (M) and mitochondria-associated-membrane structures (white arrowhead) are shown, Golgi apparatus (G). e, f Representative micrographs showing viral budding from infected placenta cells and extracellular vesicles (EV) containing a large amount of viral particles are indicated with arrowheads. Scale bars, (a–d) 200 nm, (e) 500 nm, and (f) 200 nm. Data are representative of at least three independent experiments. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.