Step forward in foot-and-mouth disease understanding

Scientists have discovered a mechanism they believe may play a key role in the spread of foot-and-mouth disease in animals. Researchers at the University of Leeds have been studying an enzyme - called 3D - which plays a vital role in the replication of the virus behind the disease. They have found that this enzyme forms fibrous structures (or fibrils) during the replication process. What's more, they have found a molecule which can prevent these fibrils forming. The project was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and its "It's too much of a jump to say that we've found a potential drug target for treatment of foot-and-mouth disease because there's still such a lot we don't know," says Nicola Stonehouse of the University of Leeds' Faculty of Biological Sciences. "However, we do think these findings are significant and provide us with a new avenue for exploration." Foot-and-mouth is a one of the most readily transmissible diseases known to man, but the mechanisms by which it infects animals are not well understood. The virus responsible for the disease is able to reproduce very quickly, enabling it to cause widespread devastation in a short space of time.