Figure 4.

Establishment of HSV latency in neurons. Following entry in the neurite end the capsid containing pUL36 and other inner tegument proteins travel to the nucleus independently of other tegument proteins like VP16. The transport of VP16 is not efficient and it probably reaches the nucleus later than the viral DNA. This, together with other factors, leads to the deposition of histone H3 and subsequently the addition of constitutive and facultative heterochromatic marks (H3K9me3 and H3K27me3, respectively) on most viral promoters, repressing their transcription. On the contrary, the LAT locus contains facultative heterochromatin and euchromatin marks (H3K4me3 and H3K9/14acetyl), facilitating its transcription