Pathogenesis and replication of norovirus: following the mouse tail?

Abstract

The emergence of human noroviruses (NoV) as significant human pathogens over the last decades has highlighted the need to research and understand the replication and pathogenesis of this group of viruses. One of the major hurdles faced by researchers in this field has been the lack of a viable tissue culture system or small animal model with which to study human NoV replication. The discovery of a murine NoV in 2003 and the identification of its tropism for macrophage and dendritic cell lines has provided the opportunity to study aspects of NoV replication and pathogenesis that were previously closed to researchers.