The measles virus (MeV) shows polymorphisms in morphology and viral particle size, however, the localization of viral proteins and infectivity in viral particles of different sizes have not been well characterized. To determine the localization of viral proteins and the infectivity of viral particles of different sizes, MeV-infected cells and their culture supernatant were analyzed by electron microscopy and membrane filter fractionation. The sizes of MeV-like particles were distributed between 50 and 1000 nm and the major distribution peak was found for particles with diameters of 350-400 nm. The MeV M protein was lined under the envelope of all MeV-like particles and membrane-filter-fractionated MeVs of all sizes showed infectivity. These findings suggest that MeV particles, particularly large particles, can be used as a vaccine by designing a chimera virus containing antigens or genome of other virus species.
DAIKOKU et al. (Thu,) studied this question.