Researchers are developing a potential antibody therapy for Sudan ebolavirus -
antibody therapy could fight against the second deadliest strain of virus
Researchers the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and other institutions have developed a potential antibody therapy for Sudan ebolavirus (SUDV), one of the two most deadly strains of Ebola. A different strain, Zaire ebolavirus (EBOV) is now devastating West Africa. First identified in 1976, SUDV caused many outbreaks of Ebola (most recently in 2012) that killed over 400 people in total. The results were reported in ACS Chemical Biology .
Between 30 and 0 percent of people infected with Ebola died after experiencing symptoms that include fever, muscle aches, vomiting and bleeding. In the current outbreak EBOV, at least 1,500 people died in late August Two American cooperating infected in that hatching received experimental treatment called zmapp, a combination of three different monoclonal antibodies that bind to protein of the virus. The newly described SUDV treatment also uses monoclonal antibodies, in this case, synthetic antibody designed to target a key molecule on the surface of SUDV called the envelope glycoprotein. (A glycoprotein molecule consists of carbohydrates, more protein).
"Although our promising antibody for the treatment of SUDV infection, they would not work against the epidemic EBOV underway in West Africa," said Jonathan Lai, Ph.D ., associate professor of biochemistry at Einstein and co-corresponding author of ACS Chemical Biology paper. "This is because the antibodies that kill off a strain or species of Ebola virus have not proven effective against other strains. "
in developing their SUDV therapy, the researchers began with specific antibodies made by mice. These antibodies protect animals against infection by binding SUDV to the envelope glycoprotein of the virus surface. But if it is used in humans, the mouse antibodies can elicit an immune response which could destroy them. Needing a "humanized" version of their mouse antibody, the researchers realized that its molecular structure closely resembles the structure of a human antibody commonly used.
The researchers used this human antibody as a scaffold on which they placed Ebola-specific part of the mouse antibody. They then variants of the molecule obtained subtly by modifying its structure in different ways using a method called "engineering synthetic antibody". Two of these variants proved capable of repelling the SUDV among specially bred mice. " both monoclonal antibodies are potential candidates for the treatment of SUDV infection, "said Dr. Lai. He noted that more research is needed before the antibody therapy can be tested on humans.
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