Human cellular models for Herpes Simplex Virus, type 1 (HSV-1) using induced pluripotent stem cell derived neuronal lineages

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) is a 152 Kb double stranded DNA alpha-herpesvirus, which establishes long life latent infection in sensory neurons. Most of our knowledge regarding HSV-1 latency comes from in vivo studies using small animal models, mainly rodents and rabbits, which are not naturally infected by HSV-1. Furthermore, these animal models do not fully recapitulate the species specific effects of human HSV-1 infection. Human cellular models utilize trigeminal ganglia removed from cadavers or, alternatively, neuron-like cells derived from cancerous cell lines that do not fully reflect effects on normal human neurons. This limitation poses the need to develop an in vitro model to investigate molecular details of the mechanisms underlying latency and reactivation in human neurons. Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell technologies offer an unprecedented opportunity to generate unlimited supplies of neurons and the facility to manipulate such cells in vitro. In this study, we developed an in vitro HSV-1 infection model in human iPS-derived neural progenitor cells (NPCs) and neurons, which displays the main hallmarks of latency defined in animal models and in humans. Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells were generated from human skin biopsy samples