A kinesin-3 recruitment complex facilitates axonal sorting of enveloped alpha herpesvirus capsids.

Axonal sorting, the controlled passage of specific cargoes from the cell soma into the axon compartment, is critical for establishing and maintaining the polarity of mature neurons. To delineate axonal sorting events, we took advantage of two neuroinvasive alpha-herpesviruses. Human herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) and pseudorabies virus of swine (PRV; suid herpesvirus 1) have evolved as robust cargo of axonal sorting and transport mechanisms.

Dual-Color Herpesvirus Capsids Discriminate Inoculum from Progeny and Reveal Axonal Transport Dynamics.

Alphaherpesviruses such as herpes simplex virus and pseudorabies virus (PRV) are neuroinvasive double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) viruses that establish lifelong latency in peripheral nervous system (PNS) neurons of their native hosts. Following reactivation, infection can spread back to the initial mucosal site of infection or, in rare cases, to the central nervous system, with usually serious outcomes. During entry and egress, viral capsids depend on microtubule-based molecular motors for efficient and fast transport.

The effect of structure on nitroxide EPR spectral linewidth.

Nitroxides with narrow linewidths are essential for low-frequency EPR spectroscopy and in vivo EPR imaging. In developing a framework for designing narrow-line nitroxides, we sought to understand the unexpectedly narrow line width of 4-oxo-2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxyl (5). Computational modeling revealed that the carbonyl double bond in the 4-position allows conformational diversity that results in the observed narrowing of the EPR spectral line.