Dynamics of foot-and-mouth disease virus replication in cells at different phases of the cell-division cycle

Abstract

Foot-and-mouth-disease virus (FMDV) replicates in epithelial cells. The restriction of FMDV RNA to the basal cell layer of epithelia suggests a possible link between FMDV replication in vivo and the cell status. This paper describes in vitro studies in which FMDV infection was investigated in cells that were held at various cell division phases using cell cycle inhibitors. The results suggest that when cells were arrested at the G 1 or G 1 /S phase, high levels of viral RNA were detected by quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR and viral protein synthesis was observed by specific labeling techniques. In contrast, when cells were arrested at the G 2 /M phase, reduced or no viral RNA synthesis was detected.