Investigations of the Molecular Mechanisms of Varicella Zoster Virus Pathogenesis
Ann M. Arvin, Anne C. Schaap, Chia Chi Ku, Jeremy O. Jones, Marvin Sommer and Leigh Zerboni
from: Alpha Herpesviruses: Molecular and Cellular Biology (Edited by: R. M. Sandri-Goldin). Caister Academic Press, U.K. (2006)
Abstract
Two major advances have provided new opportunities for understanding the molecular mechanisms of VZV pathogenesis. First, VZV cosmids permit construction of VZV recombinant viruses with targeted genetic mutations. Second, the development of the SCIDhu mouse model, in which skin, T cell and dorsal root ganglia xenografts are infected in vivo makes it possible to investigate VZV replication in differentiated human cells within their unique tissue microenvironments. These two approaches have yielded new insights about the molecular mechanisms of VZV pathogenesis that are involved in viral tropism for skin, T cells and neurons in vivo and about the host cell response to VZV infection read more ...
