This article is part of the supplement: Fifth Dominique Dormont International Conference. Host-Pathogen Interactions in Chronic Infections
Lecture presentation
Memorial lecture: viruses and the developing nervous system
Retrovirology 2009, 6(Suppl 1):L10 doi:10.1186/1742-4690-6-S1-L10
Published: 22 July 2009First paragraph (this article has no abstract)
The next Dominique Dormont International Conference will cover the consequences of viral infections on the developing nervous system, a subject usually not studied per se. The term of "developing nervous system" should be understood as the development of brain and spinal cord from the end of 1st month post conception to the end of the 2nd year of life. Such a complex subject will require a clinico-biological approach, evaluating the parallel development of immune and nervous systems and considering the variety of clinical situations resulting from virus-related insults to the developing nervous system. Several major events occur during the long interval of time we consider: first trimester of gestation: neural precursors proliferation and initial mesenchymatous/microglia invasion; second trimester: neural cell migration to constitute the cortical layers; last trimester: glial cell multiplication, dendritic network disposition and angiogenesis; first two years of life: oligodendrocytes/myelin maturation and blood-brain barrier constitution.