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Molecular Aspects of Varicella-Zoster Virus Latency

Primary varicella-zoster virus (VZV) infection causes varicella (chickenpox) and the establishment of a lifelong latent infection in ganglionic neurons. VZV reactivates in about one-third of infected individuals to cause herpes zoster, often accompanied by neurological complications. The restricted...

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Autores principales: Depledge, Daniel P., Sadaoka, Tomohiko, Ouwendijk, Werner J. D.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6070824/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29958408
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/v10070349
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author Depledge, Daniel P.
Sadaoka, Tomohiko
Ouwendijk, Werner J. D.
author_facet Depledge, Daniel P.
Sadaoka, Tomohiko
Ouwendijk, Werner J. D.
author_sort Depledge, Daniel P.
collection PubMed
description Primary varicella-zoster virus (VZV) infection causes varicella (chickenpox) and the establishment of a lifelong latent infection in ganglionic neurons. VZV reactivates in about one-third of infected individuals to cause herpes zoster, often accompanied by neurological complications. The restricted host range of VZV and, until recently, a lack of suitable in vitro models have seriously hampered molecular studies of VZV latency. Nevertheless, recent technological advances facilitated a series of exciting studies that resulted in the discovery of a VZV latency-associated transcript (VLT) and provide novel insights into our understanding of VZV latency and factors that may initiate reactivation. Deducing the function(s) of VLT and the molecular mechanisms involved should now be considered a priority to improve our understanding of factors that govern VZV latency and reactivation. In this review, we summarize the implications of recent discoveries in the VZV latency field from both a virus and host perspective and provide a roadmap for future studies.
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spelling pubmed-60708242018-08-09 Molecular Aspects of Varicella-Zoster Virus Latency Depledge, Daniel P. Sadaoka, Tomohiko Ouwendijk, Werner J. D. Viruses Review Primary varicella-zoster virus (VZV) infection causes varicella (chickenpox) and the establishment of a lifelong latent infection in ganglionic neurons. VZV reactivates in about one-third of infected individuals to cause herpes zoster, often accompanied by neurological complications. The restricted host range of VZV and, until recently, a lack of suitable in vitro models have seriously hampered molecular studies of VZV latency. Nevertheless, recent technological advances facilitated a series of exciting studies that resulted in the discovery of a VZV latency-associated transcript (VLT) and provide novel insights into our understanding of VZV latency and factors that may initiate reactivation. Deducing the function(s) of VLT and the molecular mechanisms involved should now be considered a priority to improve our understanding of factors that govern VZV latency and reactivation. In this review, we summarize the implications of recent discoveries in the VZV latency field from both a virus and host perspective and provide a roadmap for future studies. MDPI 2018-06-28 /pmc/articles/PMC6070824/ /pubmed/29958408 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/v10070349 Text en © 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Depledge, Daniel P.
Sadaoka, Tomohiko
Ouwendijk, Werner J. D.
Molecular Aspects of Varicella-Zoster Virus Latency
title Molecular Aspects of Varicella-Zoster Virus Latency
title_full Molecular Aspects of Varicella-Zoster Virus Latency
title_fullStr Molecular Aspects of Varicella-Zoster Virus Latency
title_full_unstemmed Molecular Aspects of Varicella-Zoster Virus Latency
title_short Molecular Aspects of Varicella-Zoster Virus Latency
title_sort molecular aspects of varicella-zoster virus latency
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6070824/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29958408
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/v10070349
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