During infection, the virion-incorporated transcription factor VP16 initiates a temporal cascade of viral gene expression via the immediate-early genes ICP0, ICP4, ICP22, ICP27 and ICP47, which, with the exception of ICP47, act as transcription factors to regulate later stages of viral gene expression We investigated whether these viral transcription factors could activate the HRE and thus MR expression during HSV-1 infection. This evidence concerns the gene NR3C2 and infection.