< Back to previous page

Project

Viral and cellular factors involved in the infection and invasion of alphaherpesviruses in the respiratory and genital mucosae

Alphaherpesviruses (aHV) of humans and animals cause respiratory and genital lesions In the promoter’ lab, respiratory and genital mucosa explants and respiratory epithelial cell cultures of several species have been developed to compare the behavior of different aHV All aHV have problems in infecting an intact epithelial cell layer The reason for this in the respiratory mucosa was recently found by the promoter’ team: the viral receptor is present at the basolateral side of the epithelial cells In the present project proposal, it will be analysed if this is also the case for genital epithelial cells Afterwards, the receptor will be identified During the intra-epithelial infection, aHV are destroying the basement membrane via activation of urokinase plasminogen activator and plasmin, which allows them penetrating into the connective tissue, where most aHV infect fibrocytes During this replication, the virus finds sensory nerve endings and spreads towards the neuronal nucleus, where the virus establishes latency It will now be examined if aHV also use proteases in the genital mucosa to cross the basement membrane Further, the intriguing interplay between viral proteins and cellular proteases will be examined The results of this project will lead to better insights in the replication and invasion of aHV in both mucosae, which will allow the oriented development of attenuated vaccines and treatments in order to prevent and cure aHV lesions

Date:1 Jan 2020 →  31 Dec 2023
Keywords:respiratory and genital mucosa, animal herpesvirus, infection and invasion