title: Does apoptosis play a role in varicella zoster virus latency and reactivation?
abstract: Varicella zoster virus (VZV) is an exclusively human highly neurotropic alphaherpesvirus. To date, VZV has been shown to induce apoptosis, primarily through the intrinsic pathway in different cell types, except for neurons in which the virus becomes latent. This review summarizes current studies of varicella-induced apoptosis in non‑neuronal cells. Future studies are proposed to determine whether apoptosis is terminated prematurely or even begins in neurons that are non-productively infected with VZV.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO 80045, USA. stephanie.2.james@ucdenver.edu
authors.forename: Stephanie F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: James
authors.forename: Ravi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mahalingam
authors.forename: Don
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gilden
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis; D002460:Cell Line; D014645:Herpesvirus 3, Human / Q000472:pathogenicity* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D014775:Virus Activation; D017735:Virus Latency