Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) infection results in life-long latency of the virus in the trigeminal ganglia. In PLoS Pathogens, Verjans and colleagues use human cadavers to investigate the CD4+and CD8+ T cell response to latently infected neurons in the trigeminal ganglia. Both CD4+and CD8+ T cells are found juxtaposed to latently infected neurons. Both types of T cell show evidence of recent activation in the ganglion itself. Moreover, CD8+ T cells upregulate granzyme B and perforin and the expression of these cytolytic molecules correlates with HSV-1 load. Clones generated from the T cells infiltrating the ganglia of the various donors responded to a range of known HSV-1 antigens. The identification of seemingly productive immune responses in the ganglia itself suggests it might be possible to design subunit vaccines capable of preventing the reactivation of latent virus.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fehervari, Z. Holding a latent virus at bay. Nat Immunol 14, 1023 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/ni.2721
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ni.2721
