Plus- and minus-end directed microtubule motors bind simultaneously to herpes simplex virus capsids using different inner tegument structures.

Many viruses depend on host microtubule motors to reach their destined intracellular location. Viral particles of neurotropic alphaherpesviruses such as herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV1) show bidirectional transport towards the cell center as well as the periphery, indicating that they utilize microtubule motors of opposing directionality. To understand the mechanisms of specific motor recruitment, it is necessary to characterize the molecular composition of such motile viral structures.

The inner tegument promotes herpes simplex virus capsid motility along microtubules in vitro.

After viral fusion, capsids of the neurotropic herpes simplex virus are transported along microtubules (MT) to the nuclear pores for viral genome uncoating, nuclear transcription and replication. After assembly and egress from the nucleus, cytosolic capsids are transported to host membranes for secondary envelopment or to the axon terminal for further viral spread. Using GFP-tagged capsids, Cy3-labelled MT and cytosol, we have reconstituted viral capsid transport in vitro.

Function of dynein and dynactin in herpes simplex virus capsid transport.

After fusion of the viral envelope with the plasma membrane, herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV1) capsids are transported along microtubules (MTs) from the cell periphery to the nucleus. The motor ATPase cytoplasmic dynein and its multisubunit cofactor dynactin mediate most transport processes directed toward the minus-ends of MTs. Immunofluorescence microscopy experiments demonstrated that HSV1 capsids colocalized with cytoplasmic dynein and dynactin.

The association of age, flying time, and aircraft type with hearing loss of aircrew in the Israeli Air Force.

Exposure to aircraft (A/C) noise is considered to be one of the factors which causes permanent hearing threshold shifts among military aircrew. Consequently most studies, dealing with this field of evaluation, fail to focus on the contribution of other elements, especially biological (physiological) ones. We, therefore, decided to evaluate the effect of the subject's age on this process.