Herpes simplex virion entry into and intracellular transport within mammalian cells

Alphaherpesviruses, membrane-enveloped DNA viruses that are responsible for a host of human ailments, bind to, enter and are directly targeted to specific intracellular domains within their mammalian host cells. This review emphasizes recent work on the best studied of the alphaherpesviruses, Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV1). One area of focus is on recent work that has identified viral glycoproteins that are important in binding and internalization of the virus to the host cell. Complementary work on the receptors for those viral glycoproteins that reside on the host cell surface is also presented, with some discussion of how receptor variety might lead to the tissue tropism demonstrated by alphaherpes viruses. An additional area of focus in this review is how HSV uses the host cell transport systems to achieve intracellular targeting of the incoming virion toward the cell nucleus, and, after production of newly synthesized and assembled viral progeny, targeting them toward the plasma membrane for release.