Assembly and transport of herpes simplex virus within neurones

单纯疱疹病毒（HSV）通过皮肤进入人体，然后进入神经细胞突起的末端。它沿着这些过程被运输到神经细胞体。对于大多数人来说，HSV 处于休眠状态，位于脊髓附近的这些神经细胞体内。病毒会间歇性地重新激活，并沿着神经细胞突起输送回皮肤，引起水泡溃疡或脱落但不会引起症状。这笔资助的目的是确定 HSV 如何在分子水平上在神经细胞内运输和组装。最近的发现表明，病毒在神经细胞中的运输如何依赖于特定病毒蛋白和细胞运动蛋白之间的相互作用。有关病毒运输和组装机制的此类信息将有助于开发这些过程的抑制剂，这些抑制剂可能成为控制复发性单纯疱疹的抗病毒药物的候选药物。此外，这些信息将使该病毒能够被用于基因治疗，将DNA引入人类神经细胞以纠正遗传异常。

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) enters the human body via the skin before entering the termini of nerve cell processes. It is transported along these processes to the body of the nerve cell. HSV lies dormant within these nerve cell bodies near the spinal cord in most people. Intermittently the virus reactivates and is transported back down the nerve cell processes to the skin where it causes blisters-ulcers or is shed without causing symptoms. The aim of this grant is to determine how HSV is transported and assemblied within nerve cells at the molecular level. Recent discoveries have shown how virus transport in nerve cells is dependent on interactions between specific viral proteins and cellular motor proteins. Such information on viral transport and assembly mechanisms will allow development of inhibitors of these processes which may be candidates for use as antivirals for control of recurrent herpes simplex. In addition, this information will allow the virus to be exploited for use in gene therapy to introduce DNA into human nerve cells to correct genetic abnormalities.