Molecular mechanisms of varicella zoster virus pathogenesis

L Zerboni, N Sen, SL Oliver, AM Arvin - Nature reviews microbiology, 2014 - nature.com
L Zerboni, N Sen, SL Oliver, AM Arvin
Nature reviews microbiology, 2014nature.com
Varicella zoster virus (VZV) is the causative agent of varicella (chickenpox) and zoster
(shingles). Investigating VZV pathogenesis is challenging as VZV is a human-specific virus
and infection does not occur, or is highly restricted, in other species. However, the use of
human tissue xenografts in mice with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) enables
the analysis of VZV infection in differentiated human cells in their typical tissue
microenvironment. Xenografts of human skin, dorsal root ganglia or foetal thymus that …
Abstract
Varicella zoster virus (VZV) is the causative agent of varicella (chickenpox) and zoster (shingles). Investigating VZV pathogenesis is challenging as VZV is a human-specific virus and infection does not occur, or is highly restricted, in other species. However, the use of human tissue xenografts in mice with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) enables the analysis of VZV infection in differentiated human cells in their typical tissue microenvironment. Xenografts of human skin, dorsal root ganglia or foetal thymus that contains T cells can be infected with mutant viruses or in the presence of inhibitors of viral or cellular functions to assess the molecular mechanisms of VZV–host interactions. In this Review, we discuss how these models have improved our understanding of VZV pathogenesis.
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