Scientists open up new avenues for Ebola vaccine research and development

researchers reported details of antibodies from a human survivor of the Ebola virus. The study reveals a new vulnerable bit in the Ebola virus, or could be used in drug and vaccine development. The paper was published online in Nature -Structural and Molecular Biology.
virus can cause severe haemorrhagic fever, with a mortality rate of up to 90 per cent. There are three different Ebola viruses that can occur in a population: Ebola, Bondibyou and Sudan. Most known antibodies can only prevent one Ebola virus. A small number of broad-spectrum and antibodies that can block multiple Ebola viruses have been identified. However, most of these antibodies are targeted at an area of the virus's outer layer, viral glycoprotein, which is not always exposed. There is also a portion of the antibody that targets the exposed area of the viral glycoprotein base.
Erica Saphire, Kartik Chandran and colleagues at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, USA, used ADI-15946, an antibody that targets the base of the viral glycoprotein. ADI-15946 was isolated from human survivors of the 2013-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa and has previously been shown to be able to memorabus and Bondibyou viruses, but not Sudanese.
, the researchers produced a crystal structure of antibodies that bind to the viral glycoproteins of the Ebola virus, indicating that ADI-15946 targeted a pocket structure in the virus base region, which formed a new vulnerability. Based on this information, researchers can design antibodies and enhance the ability to contain and contain Sudanese viruses.
researchers say further research is needed in the future to explore the potential of this new vulnerable point for vaccine development and to determine whether engineered synthetic antibodies can be used as part of an effective treatment for all Ebola viruses. (Source: Tang Erdu, China Science Journal)
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