title: Two alpha-herpesvirus strains are transported differentially in the rodent visual system.
abstract: Uptake and transneuronal passage of wild-type and attenuated strains of a swine alpha-herpesvirus (pseudorabies [PRV]) were examined in rat visual projections. Both strains of virus infected subpopulations of retinal ganglion cells and passed transneuronally to infect retino-recipient neurons in the forebrain. However, the location of infected forebrain neurons varied with the strain of virus. Intravitreal injection of wild-type virus produced two temporally separated waves of infection that eventually reached all known retino-recipient regions of the central neuraxis. By contrast, the attenuated strain of PRV selectively infected a functionally distinct subset of retinal ganglion cells with restricted central projections. The data indicate that projection-specific groups of ganglion cells are differentially susceptible to the two strains of virus and suggest that this sensitivity may be receptor mediated.
authors.affiliation: Viral Diseases Group, Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Company Wilmington, Delaware 19880-0228.
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Card
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Whealy
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Robbins
authors.forename: R Y
authors.initials: RY
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.forename: L W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Enquist
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001370:Axonal Transport; D001921:Brain / Q000382:microbiology*; D002460:Cell Line; D011558:Herpesvirus 1, Suid / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009474:Neurons / Q000382:microbiology*; D011557:Pseudorabies / Q000503:physiopathology*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012160:Retina / Q000382:microbiology*; D013045:Species Specificity; D013552:Swine; D013997:Time Factors; D014774:Virulence; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000382:microbiology*