title: Illuminating viral infections in the nervous system.
abstract: Viral infections are a major cause of human disease. Although most viruses replicate in peripheral tissues, some have developed unique strategies to move into the nervous system, where they establish acute or persistent infections. Viral infections in the central nervous system (CNS) can alter homeostasis, induce neurological dysfunction and result in serious, potentially life-threatening inflammatory diseases. This Review focuses on the strategies used by neurotropic viruses to cross the barrier systems of the CNS and on how the immune system detects and responds to viral infections in the CNS. A special emphasis is placed on immune surveillance of persistent and latent viral infections and on recent insights gained from imaging both protective and pathogenic antiviral immune responses.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, The National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA. mcgavernd@mail.nih.gov
authors.forename: Dorian B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: McGavern
authors.forename: Silvia S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Kang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001812:Blood-Brain Barrier / Q000821:virology; D049428:Blood-Nerve Barrier / Q000821:virology; D002199:Capillary Permeability; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology*; D020805:Central Nervous System Viral Diseases / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology*; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D017933:Peripheral Nervous System / Q000821:virology; D053586:Virus Internalization; D017735:Virus Latency; D014780:Viruses / Q000276:immunology / Q000472:pathogenicity*