Use of cell morphology as early bioindicator for viral infection.

Abstract

This study reports a correlation between cellular morphology and the ability of adapting to vesicular stomatitis virus infection. A time-lapse approach was employed to track the individual difference between homologous cells in adapting to viral infection. The authors single-cell analysis indicates that upon viral infection, mature cells that are in spindle shape are less likely to be infected after 24 h infection. On the other hand, cells undergoing proliferation, which are in rounder shape, tend to adopt a much higher viral infection within the same amount of time. This fact suggests that cellular morphology may be an early bioindicator for viral infection. The findings in this study could potentially be applied to other viral infection models.