Latent phenotype analysis of three deletion variants of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) in mouse model.

Latency analysis of three herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-I) strain 17 syn+ deletion variants (1704, 1705 and 1706) showed that they established, maintained and reactivated from latency. The kinetics of reactivation of 1705 and 1706 were similar to the parent HSV-1, 17 syn+, in which reactivation occurred 5-6 days post-explanation, but 1704 reactivated with delayed kinetics i.e. on the 12th day post-explantation. Since 1704 has deleted both copies of the latency associated transcripts (LATs) promoter region and one copy of the LAT coding region in internal inverted repeat sequence of long region (IRL), it was concluded that the LATs play a part in latency reactivation of 1704 from dorsal root ganglia (DRG) of spinal cord in mouse model. Restoration of the deleted sequences in the variant 1704 by marker rescue with the wild type BamHI b fragment resulted in a wild type genotype. This virus was designated as 1704R. Latency studies of 1704R revealed that the rate and frequency of reactivation was intermediate between 17 syn+ and 1704, suggesting a secondary undetected mutation affecting latency phenotype. Isolation of 1704LP-, during the same marker rescue experiment in which both copies of promoter region of the LAT are deleted and reactivation of this virus from latency with delayed kinetics confirms that the LATs play a role in reactivation from latency.