Jennifer Lavail, PhD
Professor Emeritus
Anatomy
School of Medicine

Currently the lab is focused on three particular problems:

1. How newly synthesized virus spreads within axons to the next neurons; 2. Development of an in vitro model of axonal transport and encephalitic spread; 3. Development of a mutant HSV strain that can act as a native vaccine to block recurrent corneal keratitis or encephalis.

• Characterization of a UL49-null mutant: VP22 of herpes simplex virus type 1 facilitates viral spread in cultured cells and the mouse cornea.
  Journal of virology 2006 Duffy C, Lavail JH, Tauscher AN, Wills EG, Blaho JA, Baines JD
• Genetic and molecular in vivo analysis of herpes simplex virus assembly in murine visual system neurons.
  Journal of virology 2005 LaVail JH, Tauscher AN, Hicks JW, Harrabi O, Melroe GT, Knipe DM
• Temporal expression of herpes simplex virus type 1 mRNA in murine retina.
  Current eye research 2004 Harrabi O, Tauscher AN, LaVail JH
• The microvesicle as a vehicle for EMMPRIN in tumor-stromal interactions.
  Oncogene 2004 Sidhu SS, Mengistab AT, Tauscher AN, LaVail J, Basbaum C
• A procedure to deliver herpes simplex virus to the murine trigeminal ganglion.
  Brain research. Brain research protocols 2003 Whitehead JL, Ohara PT, Tauscher AN, LaVail JH
• Axonal transport and sorting of herpes simplex virus components in a mature mouse visual system.
  Journal of virology 2003 LaVail JH, Tauscher AN, Aghaian E, Harrabi O, Sidhu SS
• Two paths for dissemination of Herpes simplex virus from infected trigeminal ganglion to the murine cornea.
  Brain research 2001 Ohara PT, Tauscher AN, LaVail JH
• Retrograde axonal transport of herpes simplex virus: evidence for a single mechanism and a role for tegument.
  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2000 Bearer EL, Breakefield XO, Schuback D, Reese TS, LaVail JH
• The spread of herpes simplex virus type 1 from trigeminal neurons to the murine cornea: an immunoelectron microscopy study.
  Journal of virology 2000 Ohara PT, Chin MS, LaVail JH
• Squid axoplasm supports the retrograde axonal transport of herpes simplex virus.
  The Biological bulletin 1999 Bearer EL, Schlief ML, Breakefield XO, Schuback DE, Reese TS, LaVail JH
• Differential anterograde transport of HSV type 1 viral strains in the murine optic pathway.
  Journal of neurovirology 1999 Garner JA, LaVail JH
• Factors that contribute to the transneuronal spread of herpes simplex virus.
  Journal of neuroscience research 1997 LaVail JH, Topp KS, Giblin PA, Garner JA
• Herpes virus infection of RPE and MDCK cells: polarity of infection.
  Experimental eye research 1997 Topp KS, Rothman AL, Lavail JH
• Centripetal transport of herpes simplex virus in human retinal pigment epithelial cells in vitro.
  Neuroscience 1996 Topp KS, Bisla K, Saks ND, Lavail JH
• Microtubule polarity in the peripheral processes of trigeminal ganglion cells: relevance for the retrograde transport of herpes simplex virus.
  The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 1994 Topp KS, Meade LB, LaVail JH
• The retrograde tracer Fluoro-Gold interferes with the infectivity of herpes simplex virus.
  Brain research 1993 LaVail JH, Carter SR, Topp KS
• Immunohistochemical identification of trigeminal ganglion neurons that innervate the mouse cornea: relevance to intercellular spread of herpes simplex virus.
  The Journal of comparative neurology 1993 LaVail JH, Johnson WE, Spencer LC
• A quantitative assay of retrograde transported HSV in the trigeminal ganglion.
  Investigative ophthalmology & visual science 1992 Carter SR, Pereira L, Paz P, LaVail JH
• Herpes simplex viral infection of the mouse trigeminal ganglion. Immunohistochemical analysis of cell populations.
  Investigative ophthalmology & visual science 1992 Margolis TP, Dawson CR, LaVail JH
• Ultrastructural immunocytochemical localization of herpes simplex virus (type 1) in trigeminal ganglion neurons.
  Current eye research 1991 LaVail JH, Meade LB, Dawson CR
• HSV (type 1) infection of the trigeminal complex.
  Brain research 1990 LaVail JH, Zhan J, Margolis TP
• Selective spread of herpes simplex virus in the central nervous system after ocular inoculation.
  Journal of virology 1989 Margolis TP, LaVail JH, Setzer PY, Dawson CR
• Further evidence in support of the selective uptake and anterograde transport of [125I]wheat germ agglutinin by chick retinal ganglion cells.
  Brain research 1984 Margolis TP, LaVail JH
• Localization of axonally transported label in chick retinal ganglion cell axons after intravitreal injections of wheat germ agglutinin conjugated to horseradish peroxidase.
  Brain research 1984 LaVail JH, Sugino IK
• Assessment of possible transneuronal changes in the retina of rats with inherited retinal dystrophy: cell size, number, synapses, and axonal transport by retinal ganglion cells.
  The Journal of comparative neurology 1984 Eisenfeld AJ, LaVail MM, LaVail JH
• Localization of axonally transported 125I-wheat germ agglutinin beneath the plasma membrane of chick retinal ganglion cells.
  The Journal of cell biology 1983 LaVail JH, Sugino IK, McDonald DM
• Penetration of horseradish peroxidase into the optic nerve after vitreal or vascular injections in the developing chick.
  Investigative ophthalmology & visual science 1981 Kistler HB, LaVail JH
• Evidence against the smooth endoplasmic reticulum as a continuous channel for the retrograde axonal transport of horseradish peroxidase.
  Brain research 1980 Lavail JH, Rapisardi S, Sugino IK
• Retrograde intraaxonal transport of horseradish peroxidase in retinal ganglion cells of the chick.
  Brain research 1975 LaVail MM, LaVail JH
• The retrograde intraaxonal transport of horseradish peroxidase in the chick visual system: a light and electron microscopic study.
  The Journal of comparative neurology 1974 LaVail JH, LaVail MM
• Retrograde axonal transport in the central nervous system.
  Science (New York, N.Y.) 1972 LaVail JH, LaVail MM