Along with progression of retinitis, deficient autophagy resulted in increased number of EA-positive cells (Fig. 3d) and TUNEL-positive cells (Fig. 4c) in the retinas of Atg5flox/flox; Nestin-Cre mice versus control mice at day 7 p.i., suggesting that deficiency in autophagy impairs virus clearance and retinal cell survival along with progression of retinal damage. Here, NES is linked to retinitis.