Investigation of virus direct transmission, “cell-to-cell” spread mode

Some viruses use this mode of transmission which is faster than the entry from outside and allows to move between adjacent cells without being secreted to the extracellular environment and being exposed to the immune response of the host. Using  a panel of recombinant fluorescent animal herpesvirus  (BHV-1) mutants constructed in our laboratory, we demonstrated that herpesviruses can be transmitted between distant cells via specialized long range intercellular connections, tunneling nanotubes (TNT). We explore the molecular mechanism of cell-to-cell spread, using new methods developed in our laboratory.