A Continuous Bovine Kidney Cell Line Constitutively Expressing Bovine αVβ6Integrin Has Increased Susceptibility to Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus

Abstract

ABSTRACTFoot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a worldwide problem limiting the trade of animals and their products from affected countries. The rapid isolation, serotyping, and vaccine matching of FMD virus from disease outbreaks is critical for enabling the implementation of effective vaccination programs and to stop the spread of infection during outbreaks. Some primary cells have been shown to be highly susceptible to most strains of FMD virus (FMDV) but are difficult and expensive to prepare and maintain. Since the αVβ6integrin is a principal receptor for FMDV, we transduced a bovine kidney cell line to stably express both the αVand β6bovine integrin subunits. This stable cell line (LFBK-αVβ6) showed β6expression and enhanced susceptibility to FMDV infection for ≥100 cell passages. LFBK-αVβ6cells were highly sensitive for detecting all serotypes of FMDV from experimentally infected animals, including the porcinophilic FMDV strain O/TAW/97. In comparison to other cell types that are currently used for virus isolation, LFBK-αVβ6cells were more effective at detecting FMDV in clinical samples, supporting their use as a more sensitive tool for virus isolation.