EBOLA
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a
hemorrhagic fever virus discovered in the former Zaire and Sudan in 1976 with a fatality rate of 90% single stranded RNA virus of Filovirida family (pics*) 19K nucleotides --> 8 protein including surface glycoprotein (used for vaccines?) Ebola is immunosuppressive infects monocytes first, then spreads to phagocytes, endothelial cells, & liver cells causing release multiple cytokines (fever & inflammation) and apoptosis, loss in vascular integrity --> intravasculature coagulation --> fibrin clots --> hemorrhage easily killed via paraformaldehyde vaccines & passive immunity trials are in early days of testing (summer 2014) * may have been weaponized by Russians (Biohazard by Ken Alibeck) |
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Significance
of a protein's structure to its action: Ebola virus is so deadly due to its ease of entry into host cells. the virion coat contains a 'spike' protein [glycoprotein] whose crystallized structure was recently determined by X-ray crystallography at Scripps in LaJolla by immunologist Erica Saphire and her research group (Nature 454: 177-182, 2008). the GP's attach easily to host and drive virion into a host cell. |
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the carbohydrates wrapping the glycoproteins mask the virion from a host
immune system, but knowing the structure of the GP1 has shown a few
sites not coated by sugars available for attack by drugs. the virion's receptor binding site is a mucin-like domain at the center-base of a chalice shape made by three GP1 proteins and protected by a canopy of the GP1's. The chalice is cradled by GP2 subunits. The canopy is likely shed as the virion approaches a host allowing binding of the mucin domain to the host. |
WHO Ebola Fact Sheet |
CDC Biosafety Symposiums |
WHO Ebola Fact Sheet |
WHO Guidelines for Epidemic Preparedness for Hemorrhagic Fevers |
List of Ebola Outbreaks cmallery September 2014 |