TIM-1 acts a dual-attachment receptor for Ebolavirus by interacting directly with viral GP and the PS on the viral envelope

Ebolavirus can cause hemorrhagic fever in humans with a mortality rate of 50%-90%. Currently, no approved vaccines and antiviral therapies are available. Human TIM1 is considered as an attachment factor for EBOV, enhancing viral infection through interaction with PS located on the viral envelope. However, reasons under- lying the preferable usage of hTIM-1, but not other PS binding receptors by filovirus, remain unknown. We firstly demonstrated a direct interaction between hTIM-1 and EBOV GP in vitro and determined the crystal structures of the Ig V domains of hTIM-1 and hTIM-4. The binding region in hTIM-1 to EBOV GP was mapped by chimeras and mutation assays, which were designed based on structural analysis. Pseudovirion infection assays performed using hTIM-1 and its homologs as well as point mutants verified the location of the GP binding site and the importance of EBOV GP-hTIM-1 interaction in EBOV cellular entry.

The roles of ebolavirus glycoproteins in viral pathogenesis

Ebolaviruses are highly dangerous pathogens exhibiting extreme virulence in humans and nonhuman primates. The majority of ebolavirus species, most notably Zaire ebolavirus, can cause Ebola virus disease(EVD), formerly known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever, in humans. EVD is associated with case-fatality rates as high as 90%, and there is currently no specific treatment or licensed vaccine available against EVD. Understanding the molecular biology and pathogenesis of ebolaviruses is important for the development of antiviral therapeutics. Ebolavirus encodes several forms of glycoproteins(GPs), which have some interesting characteristics, including the transcriptional editing coding strategy and extensive O-glycosylation modification, clustered in the mucin-like domain of GP1, full-length GP(GP_(1,2)), and shed GP. In addition to the canonical role of the spike protein, GP_(1,2), in viral entry, ebolavirus GPs appear to have multiple additional functions,likely contributing to the complex pathogenesis of the virus. Here, we review the roles of ebolavirus GPs in viral pathogenesis.

Animal models for filovirus infections

The family Filoviridae, which includes the genera Marburgvirus and Ebolavirus, contains some of the most pathogenic viruses in humans and non-human primates （NHPs）, causing severe hemorrhagic fevers with high fatality rates. Small animal models against filoviruses using mice, guinea pigs, hamsters, and ferrets have been developed with the goal of screening candidate vaccines and antivirals, before testing in the gold standard NHP models. In this review, we summarize the different animal models used to understand filovirus pathogenesis, and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each model with respect to filovirus disease research.

基于GoPubMed对埃博拉病毒研究文献的数据分析

本研究对埃博拉病毒相关研究载文量的文献计量学分析,以期为埃博拉病毒研究提供文献的数据支持。埃博拉病毒（Ebolavirus,EBOV）是撒哈拉以南的非洲地区高致病性人畜共患传染病,本文基于文献计量学的分析方法,以“Ebolavirus”为主题词检索文献,检索截止至2018年3月2日被PubMed数据库收录的埃博拉病毒（Ebolavirus）相关研究文献,在PubMed中检索到4 391篇文献为研究对象。统计学分析其埃博拉病毒相关研究文献的高频主题词及发表文献的年份、国家、城市和期刊的分布情况,了解埃博拉病毒研究的现状及其发展趋势。结果表明2013-2015年,PubMed数据库收录的埃博拉病毒相关研究的载文量呈逐年上升趋势,2015年至本文统计日的载文量呈现逐年下降。本研究在PubMed数据库检索到的4 391篇埃博拉病毒研究文献中,载文量最多的国家为美国,中国排第六,载文量较多的地区和城市则集中在北美和欧洲等西方发达国家,载文量较多的城市中,中国的北京排第八位。埃博拉病毒相关研究载文量较多的期刊是Journal of Virology（J Virol）。利用GoPubMed检索到的埃博拉病毒相关研究文献,可以从文献数据的角度显示出埃博拉病毒研究的现状和发展趋势。

Modelling the potential influence of human migration and two strains on Ebola virus disease dynamics

Migration of infected animals and humans,and mutation are considered as the source of the introduction of new pathogens and strains into a country.In this paper,we formulate a mathematical model of Ebola virus disease dynamics,that describes the introduction of a new strain of ebolavirus,through either mutation or immigration(which can be continuous or impulsive)of infectives.The mathematical analysis of the model shows that when the immigration of infectives is continuous,the new strain invades a country if its invasion reproduction number is greater than one.When the immigration is impulsive,a newly introduced strain is controllable when its reproduction number is less than the ratio of mortality to the population inflow and only locally stable equilibria exist.This ratio is one if the population size is constant.In case of mutation of the resident strain of ebolavirus,the coexistence of the resident and mutated strains is possible at least if their respective reproduction numbers are greater than one.Results indicate that the competition for the susceptible population is the immediate consequence of the coexistence of two different strains of ebolavirus in a country and this competition is favourable to the most infectious strain.Results also indicate that impulsive immigration of infectives when compared with continuous immigration of infectives gives time for the implementation of control measures.Our model results suggest controlled movements of people between countries that have had Ebola outbreaks despite the fact that closing boundaries is impossible.

Tobacco plant: A possible key to Ebola vaccine

In 2014, the World Health Organization was notified of an outbreak of a communicable disease characterized by fever, severe diarrhea, vomiting, and a high fatality rate in Guinea. Virologic investigation identified Zaire ebolavirus (EBOV) as the causative agent. Approximately 30 years after the first epidemic, there is no vaccine or therapeutic medication approved to counter the Ebola virus. In this review, it emphasized that plant based antibodies can be an effective cure to Ebola hemorrhagic fever. Genetically modified Nicotiana benthamiana is used to manufacture ZMapp drug by Kentucky BioProcessing. ZMapp three-antibody cocktail binds to the Ebola virus to deactivate it and provides simulated immune response against sugar-tagged proteins on the outside of the Ebola virus, which had verified efficacy against Ebola infection in nonhuman primates and also successfully treated two American medical workers infected with Ebola virus disease.