The strategy of herpes simplex virus replication and takeover of the host cell

Introduction The fundamental mission of all viruses is to replicate and spread, and above all, to persist in the host environment to which they have become adapted. Viruses vary with respect to the mechanisms by which they attain their objectives. This variation is reflected not only in the basic mechanisms of viral entry into cells, synthesis of viral proteins, viral nuclei acid synthesis, virion assembly, and egress but also with respect to the basic strategies by which they preclude the enormous resources of the host cell and of the multicellular organism from totally blocking viral replication. The terminology used: “totally blocking” is appropriate; in essence the evolution of functions encoded in the viral genome reflects a fundamental accommodation between replication and spread as well as persistence in the human population. A replication and spread that kills the host will not permit the survival of the virus. The objective of this chapter is to examine the basic strategies evolved by HSV to replicate in its cellular environment. Gene content, organization, and fundamental design of the viral genome Several aspects of the structure, content and function of the viral genome are worthy of note. They are as follows. (i) We do not know with any degree of certainty the exact number of transcriptional units or proteins encoded by the viral genome. The problem stems from several considerations. […]