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Title: A colorimetric bioassay for high-througput and cost-effectively assessing anti-foot-and-mouth disease virus activity

Author
item RAMANATHAN, PALANIAPPAN - Oak Ridge Institute For Science And Education (ORISE)
item PUCKETTE, MICHAEL - Us Deparment Of Homeland Security
item Hartwig, Ethan
item Bishop, Elizabeth
item Rodriguez, Luis
item Grubman, Marvin
item Zhu, James

Submitted to: Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/14/2015
Publication Date: 3/15/2015
Citation: Ramanathan, P., Puckette, M., Hartwig, E.J., Bishop, E.A., Rodriguez, L.L., Grubman, M.J., Zhu, J.J. 2015. A colorimetric bioassay for high-througput and cost-effectively assessing anti-foot-and-mouth disease virus activity. Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology. 164(1-2):74-78. DOI: 0.1016/j.vetimm.2015.01.005.

Interpretive Summary: Foot-and-Mouth Disease virus (FMDV) is very sensitive to inhibition of type I interferons. Quantification of the anti-FMDV activity of the interferons is critical to understand the disease and to evaluate the efficacy of interferon biotherapeutics. A currently available assay utilizes plaque reduction to measure the activity, which is only applicable for porcine but not bovine interferons. The assay is tedious and difficult to utilize for high-throughput analysis. Using available FMDV susceptible bovine and porcine cell lines, researchers tested a colorimetric assay for ability to quantify the FMDV-specific antiviral activity of bovine and porcine type I interferons. Our results show that the new method has significant advantages over the current assay in terms of the amount of labor and cost associated. In addition, the new method can be easily scaled up for usage in high-throughput analysis for both bovine and porcine interferons giving it a significant advantage over the plague reduction assay.

Technical Abstract: Foot-and-Mouth Disease virus (FMDV) is one of the most contagious animal viruses and has a devastating effect on livestock industries if an outbreaks occurs, especially in FMD-free countries. The virus is very sensitive to inhibition by type I interferons. Currently, a reported assay to measure FMDV inhibition utilizes plaque reduction, which is only applicable for testing porcine interferons because the assay is developed using porcine cell lines. The current assay is also tedious and difficult to utilize for high-throughput analysis. Using available FMDV susceptible bovine and porcine cell lines, we tested a colorimetric assay for ability to quantify the FMDV-specific antiviral activity of bovine and porcine type I interferons. Our results show that the new method has significant advantages over the current plaque reduction assay in terms of the amount of labor and cost associated with the assay. In addition, it can be easily scaled up for usage in high-throughput analysis for both bovine and porcine interferons giving it a significant advantage over the plague reduction assay.