Electron microscopical demonstration of nucleic acids in virus-like particles in the skeletal muscle of a traffic accident victim

Abstract

Picornavirus-like crystalline arrays were found in the skeletal muscle of a victim of a traffic accident. Individual particles measured approximately 22 nm in diameter and were arrayed in a hexagonal or triangular pattern. Cis-platinum (II) staining of these virus-like particles showed that these particles were not glycogen but contained nucleic acids, and the staining according to Bernhard also showed these particles contained RNA. Through the combination of the methods of Heinen (1977) and Bernhard (1969), we can confirm that virus-like crystalline structures found electron microscopically contain nucleic acids and possibly represent virions.