Neuroinvasiveness, the capacity of virus to enter and progress through
the nervous system, may be accomplished by hematogenous or neural rou
tes. We have been interested in defining HSV-1 genes specifically conc
erned with the neural pathway. In one system (involving HSV strain Ang
), we have found that a single amino acid change in glycoprotein D, a
viral membrane protein, confers invasiveness upon a noninvasive agent.
Preliminary studies of another noninvasive agent, KOS, suggest that a
t least 2 genes are related to the phenotype. Experiments which establ
ish specificity for the noninvasive phenotype and a discussion of the
potential mechanisms involved in the glycoprotein D localization are a
lso discussed.