ALPHA-HERPESVIRUS TRANSPORT IN AXONS

Spread of neuroinvasive herpesviruses from sensory neurons to the eye, brain or from mother to newborn, are significant causes of morbidity and mortality. Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV1) and pseudorabies virus (PRV) are representative members of the two genuses of mammalian neuroinvasive herpesviruses (simplexviruses & varicelloviruses). These viruses are dependent upon spread to the nervous system to establish life-long latent infections, yet very little is known regarding the neuroinvasive mechanism that underlies this remarkable trait. We propose to study the virus neuroinvasive machinery with the intent to: (i) decipher how these viruses invade the nervous system, (ii) understand the intrinsic barriers to neural infection that these viruses evade, and (iii) produce and characterize viruses lacking the neuroinvasive property as potential vaccines. These studies are designed to decode the virus tactics used to establish neural infections and our corresponding nervous system’s defenses that keep most pathogens at bay.