Isolation of potent neutralizing antibodies from a survivor of the 2014 Ebola virus outbreak

• DOI: 10.1126/science.aad5788
• Publication Date: 2016-02-19T04:33:40Z
• Authors: Zachary A. Bornholdt; Hannah L. Turner; Charles D. Murin; Wen Li; Devin Sok; Colby A. Souders; Ashley E. Piper; Arthur Goff; Joshua D. Shamblin; Suzanne E. Wollen; Thomas R. Sprague; Marnie L. Fusco; Kathleen B. J. Po...; Lisa A. Cavacini; Heidi L. Smith; Mark Klempner; Keith A. Reimann; Eric Krauland; Tillman U. Gerngross; Karl D. Wittrup; Erica Ollmann Sap...; Dennis R. Burton; Pamela J. Glass; Andrew B. Ward; Laura M. Walker
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; Immunization, Passive; Virion; Antibodies, Monoclonal; Antigen-Antibody Complex; Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola; Antibodies, Viral; Ebolavirus; Antibodies, Neutralizing; Tissue Donors; Disease Outbreaks; 3. Good health; Mice; 03 medical and health sciences; Viral Envelope Proteins; Antibody Formation; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Animals; Humans; Survivors; Ebola Vaccines

Profiling the antibody response to Ebola

The recent Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa illustrates the need not only for a vaccine but for potential therapies, too. One promising therapy is monoclonal antibodies that target Ebola's membrane-anchored glycoprotein (GP). Bornholdt et al. isolated and characterized 349 antibodies from a survivor of the 2014 outbreak. A large fraction showed some neutralizing activity and several were quite potent. Structural analysis revealed an important site of vulnerability on the membrane stalk region of GP. Antibodies targeting this area were therapeutically effective in Ebola virus–infected mice.

Science , this issue p. 1078