Electron microscopic studies of Dane particles in hepatocytes with special reference to intracellular development of Dane particles and their relation with HBeAg in serum
✍ Scribed by Tomoteru Kamimura; Akira Yoshikawa; Fumihiro Ichida; Hiroshi Sasaki
- Book ID
- 102850361
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1981
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 877 KB
- Volume
- 1
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0270-9139
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✦ Synopsis
Electron microscopic observations in 30 cases of HBsAg positive liver disease and 12 asymptomatic carriers of HBsAg suggested the following mechanism of intracellular development of Dane particles: core particles migrated from the nucleus into the cytoplasm through the nuclear pores. Intracytoplasmic core particles protruded into the cisternae of endoplasmic reticulum by budding the outer coat of Dane particles being derived from the membrane of endoplasmic reticulum. Release of Dane particles into the blood stream by reversed pinocytosis was suggested by the finding of submembranous localization of endoplasmic reticulum containing these particles. No budding from the cell surface of the hepatocytes was encountered. Dane particles in the hepatocytes were detected in 14 of 16 cases positive for serum HBeAg while no particles were seen in 27 HBeAg negative cases, thus suggesting that serum HBeAg reflected ongoing replication of hepatitis B virus in the hepatocytes.
Recent ultrastructural studies of the liver of patients with persistent HBs antigenemia have demonstrated core particles in the nucleus and cytoplasm (1) and coated particles in the cisternae of endoplasmic reticulum (2-5) in addition to tubular structures (6). The intracisternalcoated particles had the same morphology as Dane particles in the serum (7) which represents the complete hepatitis B virus (8-10). The surface coat of Dane particles expresses HBsAg and is presumably derived from the membranes of the endoplasmic reticulum or the plasma membranes of hepatocytes, both membranes revealing HBsAg by the peroxidase-labeled antibody method (11-13). However, in the absence of in vitro cultivation of hepatitis B virus, the mode of replication of Dane particles in the hepatocytes and their release mechanism into the blood remain unknown.
In the present study, we investigated the precise mechanism of the development of Dane particles in the hepatocytes by means of electron microscopy. We also studied serum markers that reflect replication of hepatitis B virus in the liver tissues.