which is associated with the incoming nucleocapsids, interacts with the intermediate chain of cytoplasmic dynein (IC-1a) (Ye et al., 2000) . It has also been reported that incoming nucleocapsids of pseudorabies virus, an alphaherpes virus closely related to HSV-1, are associated with and dependent on microtubules for their movement to the nucleus (Kaelin et al., 2000) . This interaction may be mediated by the UL25 protein, a minor but essential component of the capsid, which co-localizes with microtubules and accumulates at the MTOC (Kaelin et al., 2000) . The accumulation of UL25 at the MTOC is consistent with a possible interaction with the dynein± dynactin motor complex which is known to be localized at the MTOC (Echeverri et al., 1996) . It would not be surprising, based on observations with HSV-1 and pseudorabies, if microtubules and dynein±dynactin were also involved in establishing the infection cycle of cytomegalovirus (CMV), Epstein±Barr virus and varicella-zoster virus, all of which are herpes viruses. The other clear example of microtubule-dependent virus movements during the establishment of infection is that of incoming human foamy virus (HFV) which is dependent on microtubules and presumably a minus end-directed microtubule motor to get to its nuclear replication site (Saib et al., 1997) . In the absence of protein expression, HFV Gag proteins, which are associated with the viral genome, accumulate at the centrosome in a microtubuledependent fashion prior to nuclear import (Saib et al., 1997) . The centrosomal accumulation of Gag proteins of HFV, however, appears to be unique for this class of retroviruses as no similar localization has been reported for human immunode®ciency virus (HIV) or other retroviruses. On the other hand, the Gag protein of murine leukaemia virus and HIV has been shown to interact with KIF4, a microtubule plus end-directed kinesin motor, both in vitro and in vivo (Kim et al., 1998; Tang et al., 1999) , suggesting that additional roles may exist for microtubules and motors during the outward movement of virus particles. Indeed, vaccinia virus particles are able to reach the cell periphery in the absence of actin-based motility (see images in Wolffe et al., 1997; Sanderson et al., 1998a Sanderson et al., , 2000 Ro Èttger et al., 1999) , suggesting that viral particles can also move out on microtubules (Sanderson et al., 2000) . Microtubule-dependent motordriven movements of virus particles represent an ef®cient mechanism to achieve a peri-nuclear localization, required to facilitate entry into the nucleus during establishment of infection. They also provide an excellent way for newly assembled virus particles to reach the cell periphery, facilitating the continued spread of infection.