Role of latency-associated transcript in herpes simplex virus infection.

Herpes simplex virus (HSV)-specified RNA transcript has been detected by in situ hybridization and by RNA blot analyses in latently infected peripheral nerve ganglia in experimentally infected mice and humans. Physical analysis of the nucleotide sequence, approximately 2,500, indicates possible splicing of the transcript into two overlapping open reading frames (ORF) and the presence of potential promoter elements. The latency-associated transcript, probably, is involved in the maintenance of latent herpes simplex virus infection; however, recent findings indicate that latent-phase transcription is involved in some in vivo reactivation.