Herpes virus invades the cornea in an unusual way

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

New research shows how the herpes virus invades the cornea, causing blindness.
The herpes virus causes cold sores and another strain causes genital herpes. The virus can also infect the cornea and is the leading cause of infectious blindness in the US. In around one quarter of cases of ocular herpes, the virus penetrates the first layer of the cornea and then infects the inner layer, known as the stroma, which makes the disease much more difficult to treat.

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago now shed new light on how the ocular herpes infection occurs. Electron microscope images show that the stromal cells engulf the herpes virus - rather as phagocytes in the immune system engulf invading bacteria and viruses. But the herpes virus is not destroyed by this process - instead, it infects the stromal cell. The findings may help uncover new ways of tackling ocular herpes infection. They may also lead to a better general understanding of herpes infections.

Source
Journal of Cell Biology 25th September 2006

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