31 May 2022
Research showing how foot-and-mouth disease virus interacts with lymphoid tissues may provide further help in creating vaccines that provide long-lasting immunity to livestock.
Paul Imrie
Job Title
Scientists observed that the virus binds to follicular dendritic cells.
Research conducted at The Pirbright Institute revealing how foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) interacts with lymphoid tissues could lead to vaccines offering better immunity to livestock.
The virus interacting with the immune system helps it to persist in animals such as African buffalo and means they become carriers of the disease that can pose a risk to other susceptible livestock.
Current vaccines offer short-term protection, so better knowledge about immunity to FMDV could lead to development of longer-lasting vaccines, which would particularly benefit farmers whose livelihoods depend on their herds.
Scientists used a mouse model for a detailed investigation of how FMDV persists in African buffalo, and found FMDV binds to follicular dendritic cells in the immune system.
Follicular dendritic cells are only found in lymphoid tissues, which are part of the adaptive immune response and, therefore, allow the immune system to mount a specific response.
The study also found FMDV binds to CR2/CR1 receptors on the follicular dendritic cells, trapping and retaining the virus and, in turn, offering a better and longer-lived immune response.
Researchers also found lymphoid tissues were important in FMDV infection and correlated to researchers’ predictions on the origins of persistence in African buffalo.
Bryan Charleston, director of The Pirbright Institute and head of the Viral Immunology group, said: “This research helps to bridge the knowledge gap of how the immune system deals with FMDV infection in large animals. Our extensive work in African buffalo, a natural host of the disease, allowed us to predict why and how persistence may occur, and then test this theory in a small animal model.
“This has given us new insights into the immune responses to FMDV and could provide clues about how to increase vaccine protection longevity.”
The study is in PLOS Pathogens and can be accessed online now.
