FIG. 8.

Ultrastructural analysis of HPV16 WT and E5 mutant HPV16 rafts. Shown are electron micrographs of thin sections taken from rafts generated with NIKS cells harboring WT (A) or E5 mutant (B to E) HPV16 genomes. (A) Low magnification (×2,700) of an entire cross section of a raft generated with NIKS harboring WT HPV16 genomes. The white box in panel A indicates the region shown at high magnification (×54,000) in the inset. An aggregate of VLPs measuring ∼55 nm were observed. A 1-cm ruler representing 185 nm is shown. Particles similar in size to these were also observed in multiple nuclei in E5 mutant HPV16-harboring rafts. (B to E) High magnification of examples of aggregates of VLPs measuring ∼55 nm from different rafts of two independent populations of E5 mutant HPV16 harboring NIKS cells (magnification, ×54,000[B] or ×55,000 [C to E]).