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. 2018 Feb;13(2):211–221. doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.226380

Figure 1.

Figure 1

Stages of the human herpesvirus (HV) infectious cycle.

HVs enter cells by (a) binding cell surface receptors and (b) fusing their viral envelope with the host cell membrane. (c) Viral DNA is released into the nucleus where it (d) circularizes and sequentially transcribes (e) immediate early and (f) early viral transcripts and proteins. (g) Upon replication of the viral genome, (h) late transcripts and proteins are expressed. (i) Newly synthesized viral DNA is packaged into capsids, (j) trafficked through the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and trans golgi network, and (k) released into the extracellular space to infect neighboring cells. (l) Latent viral DNA remains as a circular episome (HSV-1) or integrates into the host genome (HHV-6) and does not actively replicate. (m) Maintenance of HHV latency depends on the expression of latency associated transcripts (LAT in HSV-1) and/or proteins (U94 in HHV-6). (n) External and internal stressors, such as UV exposure and psychological stress, can cause the latent virus to reactivate and produce new viral molecules.

HHS Vulnerability Disclosure