Description:

Microbiology-Immunology Seminar Series

"The intricately balanced relationship between humans and herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 1 has been honed over 6 million years of coevolution, the complex interactions of this lifelong partnership refined as hominids evolved into homo sapiens. At its core, this relationship hinges on the ability of the virus to aggressively replicate in the epithelial cells at the site of infection, transport into the nervous system though the axons innervating the infection site, and enter a repressed state called latency. Periodically, the latent viral program in rare neurons is switched to the lytic cycle and infectious progeny are transported back to the body surface followed by rounds of replication in mucosal epithelium and virus shedding with the potential for transmission to new hosts. This seminar will focus on new insights into how HSV establishes latency and sets the balance between latent and lytic infection in the nervous system."

Nancy M. Sawtell, PhD

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

Host: Dr. Gregory Smith