Detection and quantification of the rare latently infected cell undergoing herpes simplex virus transcriptional activation in the nervous system in vivo.

Herpes simplex virus (HSV), in contrast to most other members of the herpes virus family, has the ability to infect, enter latency, and reactivate from latency in a number of nonhuman species, including mice. This provides a unique opportunity to study the complex lytic-latent cycle of a human neurotropic virus in a mouse model. This chapter details basic methods for inducing and quantifying reactivation, with emphasis on the first strategy for detecting and quantifying the initiation of HSV reactivation in vivo.