Intranasal Murine Herpesvirus Infection in Mice to Assess Host Immune Responses
JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments
Microbiology
0 views • 2:46 min • September 30th, 2026
Begin with a healthy, anesthetized mouse positioned for respiratory delivery.
Administer murine herpesvirus intranasally to initiate infection.
The virus travels through the airway and reaches the lungs.
Inside the lungs, the virus infects lung epithelial cells and releases its nucleocapsid.
The viral genome enters the nucleus and gets transcribed into viral RNA.
A host cytosolic sensor recognizes the viral RNA and initiates signaling pathways that activate specific transcription factors. These factors then promote the expression of cytokine genes leading to antiviral cytokine production.
Post-infection, dissect the euthanized mouse and harvest the lung tissue.
Place one lung lobe into a tube containing silica beads and add cold culture medium.
Homogenize the tissue to disrupt cells and release intracellular components, including the antiviral cytokines.
Cool the homogenate on ice, then repeat the homogenization to ensure complete tissue disruption.
Centrifuge to pellet the cell debris.
Collect the supernatant containing antiviral cytokines to assess the host immune response to herpesvirus infection.
Intranasally inoculate the anesthetized C57-black-six mice with 40 microliters of 40 plaque fo
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