Our laboratory studies the neuroinvasive herpesviruses with a focus on the molecular mechanisms by which these pathogens propagate and disseminate within the nervous system. The outcome of infection is closely tied to the route the viruses spread within the nervous system, and can range from no overt disease to blindness or lethal encephalitis. We use a combination of live-cell fluorescence microscopy, molecular genetics and neuronal cell biology to examine the dynamics of viral particle assembly and intracellular axon transport. These molecular mechanisms are then examined in the larger context of neuroinvasion and pathogenesis. Two long-term goals of our research are to identify novel targets in the viral infectious cycle for development of antivirals, and engineering recombinant viral particles as effective gene delivery vehicles. (Keywords: neuroinvasion, neuron, axon, microtubule, cytoskeleton, dynein, kinesin, transport, virus, virion, herpesvirus, herpes, capsid, tegument, egress, nucleus, GFP, BAC, bacmid, recombination, GS1783)