Generation of eGFP expressing recombinant Zaire ebolavirus for analysis of early pathogenesis events and high-throughput antiviral drug screening.
Zaire ebolavirus causes large outbreaks of severe and usually fatal hemorrhagic disease in humans for which there is no effective treatment or cure. To facilitate examination of early critical events in viral pathogenesis and to identify antiviral compounds, a recombinant Zaire ebolavirus was engineered to express a foreign protein, eGFP, to provide a rapid and sensitive means to monitor virus replication in infected cells. This genetically engineered virus represents the first insertion of a foreign gene into ebolavirus. We show that Ebola-eGFP virus (EboZ-eGFP) infects known early targets of human infections and serves as an ideal model to screen antiviral compounds in less time than any previously published assay.
Towner
Jonathan S
JS
Special Pathogens Branch, Division of Viral and Rickettsial Diseases, NCID, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
Paragas
Jason
J
Dover
Jason E
JE
Gupta
Manisha
M
Goldsmith
Cynthia S
CS
Huggins
John W
JW
Nichol
Stuart T
ST
D000818:Animals; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; D029043:Ebolavirus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D019142:Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D014709:Vero Cells
D000998:Antiviral Agents; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins