The roles of herpes simplex virus in neuroscience

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) has been a focus of research in many laboratories during the last 30-35 years, with the majority centered on the virus' replication, molecular biology and pathogenesis. Recently, HSV has begun to receive considerable attention in the field of neuroscience, where scientists have begun to use the virus as a tool or model for several areas of investigation. These areas include the construction and development of HSV-based vectors for gene therapy and the use of HSV as a neuronal tracer, as a model for demyelinating disease and to study interactions between the nervous, immune and endocrine systems. The goal of this paper is to review these different roles for HSV in the broad field of neuroscience.