DNA Vaccines Against Foot-and-Mouth Disease: A Novel Biotechnological Strategy

This review article points out the Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) as a major global animal disease of serious economic importance and limitations of conventional inactivated whole-virus vaccines. It gives DNA vaccine technology as a potential and safer way of achieving immunity by expressing microbial antigens in host cells and thereby eliciting both humoral and cellular immunity responses. The principles and mechanisms of the DNA vaccines are described in the article: antigen presentation, activation of T- T-cells, as well as the functions of adjuvants, the delivery methods, and electroporation, gene gun, and nanoparticles in the increasing of their efficacy. In addition, it summarizes the advancement in the FMD DNA vaccines against diverse viral proteins such as VP1 and the P1 polyprotein, reviews conducted experimental studies and studies in efficacy trials on animal models and the targeted livestock animal.