Restricted herpes simplex virus type 1 gene expression within sensory neurons in the absence of functional B and T lymphocytes.

Herpes simplex virus type I (HSV-1) establishes a latent infection in sensory ganglion neurons. During latency no viral-specific proteins are detected and virus gene expression is restricted to the latency-associated transcripts. We report here that trigeminal ganglia of mice with severe combined immunodeficiency contain individual sensory neurons exhibiting restricted viral gene expression characteristic of latency; this occurred during acute (4-6 days) infection with the wild-type HSV-1 strain 17+ and after prolonged (4 weeks) infection with the replication impaired HSV-1 mutant in 1814. These results indicate that T and B lymphocytes, while important for the recovery from viral infections, are not required for the establishment or maintenance of latency in neurons.