Architectural Antagonism by an Acute Arbovirus - a podcast by MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research

In this episode, Connor chats with two CVR scientists, principal investigator and director of the institute, Professor Massimo Palmarini, and PhD student and vet, Eleonora Melzi. Eleonora and Massimo explain to us a bit about their work, which has recently been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

Their paper provides new insights into how bluetongue virus evades the immune response of its host by drastically altering the workings of the lymph node, a critical organ of the immune response. Bluetongue is a very serious infection in sheep and other livestock animals and is an arbovirus, spread by midges. Climate change and global warming are making bluetongue outbreaks more common in Northern Europe and the UK.

Find out more at the Contagious Thinking blog: http://cvr.academicblogs.co.uk/architectural-antagonism-by-an-acute-arbovirus/

And read the paper (Open access) here: http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2016/09/23/1610012113.full

Image credits from Eleonora Melzi. This picture shows different populations of lymph node cells present in a sheep lymph node follicle (CD83 red, Desmin green, and smooth muscle actin white). Follicular dendritic cells (red, in the centre of the follicle) are disrupted during BTV infection.

Edited intro/outro music credit: 'Take me higher' by 'Jahzzar'. freemusicarchive.org/music/Jahzzar/…Me_Higher_1626 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).

Other sounds and music with thanks from:
soundmary \\https://www.freesound.org/people/soundmary/sounds/196671/

and jimrsbjorklund https://www.freesound.org/people/jimrsbjorklund/sounds/353081/

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