Award details

Interaction of Bluetongue virus with cells of the immune system

Reference	BBS/E/I/00001441
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Dr Geraldine Taylor
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors
Institution	The Pirbright Institute
Department	The Pirbright Institute Department
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	268,358
Status	Completed
Type	Institute Project
Start date	01/07/2009
End date	31/03/2012
Duration	33 months

Abstract

Dendritic cells (DC) have a unique capacity to stimulate responses of naive T lymphocytes and are therefore central to the induction of immune responses and determine the outcome of infectious challenge or vaccination. Little is known of the interaction of BTV with DC, although preliminary studies performed in collaboration with Dr I Schwartz-Cornil, INRA, indicate that BTV replicates in ovine DC without inducing cell death. We will focus on how antigen from live and inactivated BTV interacts with bovine DC’s and determine the ability of bovine DC subsets to present antigen to T cells. In addition, we will develop and refine assays to measure BTV-specific T-cell responses in order to analyse the immune response to vaccination and infection. It has been proposed that the capacity for viral production without a cytopathic effect, as observed in BTV-infected ovine DC, involves budding of BTV. Our recent studies have demonstrated that BTV accumulates in uropods in BTV-infected lymphocytes in vitro. Uropods are the trailing edge of migrating T cells which selectively concentrate molecules involved in intercellular adhesion, whereas the leading edge is enriched in receptors involved in recognition of chemokines, antigens and substrate-adhesion molecules. Upon contact of T cells with other T cells or antigen-presenting cells, a characteristic polarized arrangement of molecules at cell-cell junctions, known as the immunological synapse, is induced. Recent studies have demonstrated that this synapse can play a role in the cell-to-cell spread of lymphotropic viruses and is a mechanism by which viruses can spread in the presence of neutralising antibody. In this project the role of virological synapses in the cell-to-cell spread of BTV will be determined.

Summary

unavailable

Committee	Not funded via Committee
Research Topics	Animal Health, Immunology, Microbiology
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	X - not in an Initiative
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

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