Chapter 5 Infection, latency and immortalization of human cells with HHV-6

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the infection, latency, and immortalization of human cells with HHV-6. Human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6) classified as lymphotropic herpesvirus was discovered by Salahuddin. Human herpesvirus-6, originally named human B lymphotropic virus (HBLV), has shown to be tropic for T cells, some B cells, and fibroblasts. This virus readily infects mitogen-activated human cord blood and peripheral blood mononuclear cells in vitro. Studies have shown that whether the latency of HHV-6 could be associated with neoplasia of T cell origin, and whether the immortalized CDC positive cells may play a role in the development of AIDS. This chapter also presents the in vitro infection and replication of human cells and latency of HHV-6 to explore target cells for permissive replication and to shed some light on how HHV-6, under the right circumstances, could be capable of immortalizing T cells.