Depletion of CD8+ T cells inhibited elimination of UL13 kinase-dead mutant viruses at the site of infection and the mice died, indicating that UL13 protein kinase mediates viral evasion of HSV-1-specific CD8+ T cells by downregulating CXCL9 expression in the infected mouse brains, resulting in efficient viral propagation and pathogenicity in vivo (Figure 1A) [59]. Here, CXCL9 is linked to infection.