Antiviral efficacy of short-hairpin RNAs and artificial microRNAs targeting foot-and-mouth disease virus.

RNA interference (RNAi) is a well-conserved mechanism in eukaryotic cells that directs post-transcriptional gene silencing through small RNA molecules. RNAi has been proposed as an alternative approach for rapid and specific control of viruses including foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV), the causative agent of a devastating animal disease with high economic impact. The aim of this work was to assess the antiviral activity of different small RNA shuttles targeting the FMDV RNA-dependent RNA polymerase coding sequence (3D).

A beginner's guide for FMDV quasispecies analysis: sub-consensus variant detection and haplotype reconstruction using next-generation sequencing.

Deep sequencing of viral genomes is a powerful tool to study RNA virus complexity. However, the analysis of next-generation sequencing data might be challenging for researchers who have never approached the study of viral quasispecies by this methodology. In this work we present a suitable and affordable guide to explore the sub-consensus variability and to reconstruct viral quasispecies from Illumina sequencing data.

ViralPlaque: a Fiji macro for automated assessment of viral plaque statistics.

Plaque assay has been used for a long time to determine infectious titers and characterize prokaryotic and eukaryotic viruses forming plaques. Indeed, plaque morphology and dimensions can provide information regarding the replication kinetics and the virulence of a particular virus. In this work, we present ViralPlaque, a fast, open-source and versatile ImageJ macro for the automated determination of viral plaque dimensions from digital images.

Differential replication of Foot-and-mouth disease viruses in mice determine lethality.

Adult C57BL/6J mice have been used to study Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) biology. In this work, two variants of an FMDV A/Arg/01 strain exhibiting differential pathogenicity in adult mice were identified and characterized: a non-lethal virus (A01NL) caused mild signs of disease, whereas a lethal virus (A01L) caused death within 24-48h independently of the dose used. Both viruses caused a systemic infection with pathological changes in the exocrine pancreas.

Artificial microRNAs as antiviral strategy to FMDV: structural implications of target selection.

RNA interference (RNAi) appears as a promising strategy to control virus replication. While the antiviral power of short-hairpin RNAs or small-interfering RNAs against FMDV has been demonstrated widely, safer RNAi effectors such as artificial microRNAs (amiRs) have not been evaluated extensively. In this work, transgenic monoclonal cell lines constitutively expressing different amiRs targeting FMDV 3D-coding region or 3'UTR were established.