Sl. Springer et al., Infection and establishment of latency in the dog brain after direct inoculation of a nonpathogenic strain of herpes simplex virus-1, J NEUROVIRO, 7(2), 2001, pp. 149-154
A number of diseases affecting the CNS occur in the dog and can be used as
models for gene therapy in a large brain. HSV-1 has several potential advan
tages as a Vector to transfer genes into the CNS. However, the ability of H
SV-1 to infect CNS cells varies among species and no information was availa
ble for the dog. When the nonpathogenic 1716 strain of HSV-1 was injected i
nto the brains of normal dogs it established a latent infection without sig
ns of pathology. Thus, it appears to be suitable as a vector for therapeuti
c, or marker genes, in this species.