A team of Scientists which was led by the Indian-origin has discovered the natural human antibodies which can neutralise and also protect animals against from three virulent Ebola viruses. The new study can aid to discover vaccines against the deadly disease.
The scientists have discovered the neutralising natural human antibodies in the blood of a survivor of the 2013-16 Ebola outbreak in the Western Africa. The outbreak caused the deaths of more than 11,000 people and infected over 29,000 people.
The Ebola survivor’s blood was found to contain the remarkable antibodies which can block not only one strain of Ebola from infecting animal cells, but also all the five known strains of Ebola which are Zaire, Bundibugyo, Sudan, Reston and Tai Forest, said the researchers.
The discovery and also characterisation of broadly neutralising human antibodies in the study is a major step toward a single therapy that could treat or prevent the infection caused by any known Ebola virus, said Kartik Chandran, a professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York.
Previously, the monoclonal antibodies which bind to and neutralise the specific pathogens and toxins were emerged as one of the most promising treatments for Ebola patients. However, the therapy targetted at only one of the specific Ebola virus and failed to work against the others.
As per the study which was published in the journal Cell, a team found that two of the 349 monoclonal antibodies, ADI-15878 and ADI-15742, from the survivor of Ebola virus, potently neutralised the infection by all five known Ebolaviruses in the tissue culture.
The two new human antibodies which were discovered are capable of protecting the animals (mice and ferrets) which had been exposed to the lethal dosage of three major agents: Ebola virus, Sudan virus and also Bundibugyo virus.
The new study has also pointed out that the human genes are the likely to become a major source of the immune cells which produce the two antibodies to combat Ebola.
"We'd like to synthesise vaccine immunogens [proteins that trigger antibody production] that can elicit the same types of broadly protective antibodies in people," added Chandran.
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