In vivo imaging of alphaherpesvirus infection reveals synchronized activity dependent on axonal sorting of viral proteins.

ABSTRACT: A clinical hallmark of human alphaherpesvirus infections is peripheral pain or itching. Pseudorabies virus (PRV), a broad host range alphaherpesvirus, causes violent pruritus in many different animals, but the mechanism is unknown. Previous in vitro studies have shown that infected, cultured peripheral nervous system (PNS) neurons exhibited aberrant electrical activity after PRV infection due to the action of viral membrane fusion proteins, yet it is unclear if such activity occurs in infected PNS ganglia in living animals and if it correlates with disease symptoms. Using two-photon microscopy, we imaged autonomic ganglia in living mice infected with PRV strains expressing GCaMP3, a genetically encoded calcium indicator, and used the changes in calcium flux to monitor the activity of many

SUBMITTER: Granstedt AE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3773797 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature