A major area of interest in the study of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) involves the persistence of the virus within a latent state in neuronal cells of infected humans. The latency-associated transcripts (LATs) are believed to play a key role during HSV-1 latency. This review will discuss the most recent findings on the involvement of the LAT region with apoptotic pathways and how this relates to other potential functions of the LATs.