Examination of soluble integrin resistant mutants of foot-and-mouth disease virus

Background Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) initiates infection via recognition of one of at least four cell-surface integrin molecules αvβ1, αvβ3, αvβ6, or αvβ8 by a highly conserved Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) amino acid sequence motif located in the G-H loop of VP1. Within the animal host, the αvβ6 interaction is believed to be the most relevant. Sub-neutralizing levels of soluble secreted αvβ6 (ssαvβ6) was used as a selective pressure during passages in vitro to explore the plasticity of that interaction.