title: Characterization of herpes simplex virus type 2 latency-associated transcription in human sacral ganglia and in cell culture.
abstract: The ability of herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) to establish latency in and reactivate from sacral dorsal root sensory ganglia is the basis for recurrent genital herpes. The expression of HSV-2 genes in latently infected human sacral ganglia was investigated by in situ hybridization. Hybridizations with a probe from the long repeat region of HSV-2 revealed strong nuclear signals overlying neurons in sacral ganglia from five of nine individuals. The RNA detected overlaps with the transcript for infected cell protein O but in the opposite, or "anti-sense," orientation. These observations mimic those made previously with HSV-1 in human trigeminal ganglia and confirm the recent findings during latency in HSV-2-infected mice and guinea pigs. Northern hybridization of RNA from infected Vero cells showed that an HSV-2 latency-associated transcript was similar in size to the larger (1.85 kb) latency transcript of HSV-1. Thus, HSV-1 and HSV-2 latency in human sensory ganglia are similar, if not identical, in terms of their cellular localization and pattern of transcription.
authors.affiliation: Medical Virology Section, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.
authors.forename: K D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Croen
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Ostrove
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dragovic
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Straus
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D005260:Female; D005727:Ganglia, Spinal / Q000382:microbiology*; D006561:Herpes Simplex / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D012008:Recurrence; D018139:Simplexvirus / Q000235:genetics*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D014709:Vero Cells
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral