Stacking the odds: Multiple sites for HSV-1 latency.

A hallmark of herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection is the establishment of latent virus in peripheral sensory ganglia of the latently infected host. We and others originally reported that the latency-associated transcript (LAT) is the only abundantly expressed viral gene in neurons within trigeminal ganglia (TG) of a latently infected host. Here, we investigated the possible contribution of various cells [i.e., B cells, dendritic cells (DCs), fibroblasts, glial cells, innate lymphoid cells (ILCs), macrophages, microglia, monocytes, natural killer cells, neurons, neutrophils, and T cells] isolated from TG of latently infected mice. Our results demonstrated that all of these cell types contain LAT, with DCs, neurons, and ILCs having the most LAT cells. These results suggest that HSV-1 can establish a quiescent/latent infection in a subset of nonneuronal cells, which enhances the chances that the virus will survive in its host.