Thermostability of the Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus Capsid Is Modulated by Lethal and Viability-Restoring Compensatory Amino Acid Substitutions

Abstract

This study provides novel insights into the little-known structural determinants of the balance between thermal stability and instability in the capsid of foot-and-mouth disease virus and into the relationship between capsid stability and virus infectivity. The results provide new guidelines for the development of thermostabilized empty capsid-based recombinant vaccines against foot-and-mouth disease, one of the economically most important animal diseases worldwide.