Imaging Techniques: Essential Tools for the Study of SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Aurélie Deroubaix; Anna Kramvis

doi:10.3389/fcimb.2022.794264

Imaging Techniques: Essential Tools for the Study of SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2022 Jul 22:12:794264. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2022.794264. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Aurélie Deroubaix^{1

2}, Anna Kramvis¹

Affiliations

¹ Hepatitis Virus Diversity Research Unit, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
² Life Sciences Imaging Facility, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Abstract

The world has seen the emergence of a new virus in 2019, SARS-CoV-2, causing the COVID-19 pandemic and millions of deaths worldwide. Microscopy can be much more informative than conventional detection methods such as RT-PCR. This review aims to present the up-to-date microscopy observations in patients, the in vitro studies of the virus and viral proteins and their interaction with their host, discuss the microscopy techniques for detection and study of SARS-CoV-2, and summarize the reagents used for SARS-CoV-2 detection. From basic fluorescence microscopy to high resolution techniques and combined technologies, this article shows the power and the potential of microscopy techniques, especially in the field of virology.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; diagnostic; functional studies; high content screening; microscopy; models; super-resolution.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

COVID-19 Testing
COVID-19*
Humans
Pandemics
SARS-CoV-2