HSV-1 strain H129 co-opts neuronal synaptic transmission machinery for its transsynaptic spread

Nature Neuroscience, Published online: 14 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s41593-026-02254-8

By assembling into ‘virion vesicles’, the H129 strain of herpes simplex virus-1 hijacks synaptic machinery for its anterograde spread, co-opting voltage-gated Ca2+ channels, Syt7 and SNAREs for presynaptic exit, then nectin-1/CME for postsynaptic entry.