Immune responses against HSV-1 and HSV-2 are complex and involve a delicate interplay between innate signaling pathways and adaptive immune responses. The innate response to HSV involves the induction of type I IFN, whose role in protection against disease is well characterized in vitro and in vivo. Cell types such as NK cells and pDCs contribute to innate anti-HSV responses in vivo. Finally, the adaptive response includes both humoral and cellular components that play important roles in antiviral control and latency. This review summarizes the innate and adaptive effectors that contribute to susceptibility, immune control and pathogenesis of HSV, and highlights the delicate interplay between these two important arms of immunity.
Keywords: Herpes Simplex virus (HSV); Natural killer (NK) cells; adaptive immunity; antiviral signaling; innate immunity; plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs); type I interferon (IFN).