User:Nikkicalvert/Ebolavirus

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The main reason that there are not many available treatments is due to Ebola being such a severe virus. This virus has a 90% fatality rate. It can only be explored in a BSL-4 laboratory which is very selective. In order for it to be studied more widespread, BSL-2 laboratories have been able to use systems that are substitutes for the actual infectious virus. Scientists have used pseudo types that have the same glycoprotein on the surface that is used for entry into the host cell. They also use noninfectious Ebola-like particles as a replacement system to study.

The search for a vaccine for Ebola began immediately after it was first discovered in 1976. There are currently only two FDA approved drugs. In October 2020 Immazab was officially approved and in December 2020, Ebanga was also officially approved. The difference between the two treatments is that Immazeb uses three monoclonal antibodies whereas Ebanga only has one monoclonal antibody. Both of these treatments are designed to attack the glycoprotein in order to prevent the virus from entering a new host cell and replicating. Besides these two drugs, there is more general treatment care such as managing symptoms that are caused by Ebola such as vomiting, fever, diarrhea, and any pain. (improved citations and added more information after peer review)

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Ebolavirus is a filamentous, enveloped virus within the order Mononegavirales which also contains rabies and measles. This order is characterized by non-segmented, single-stranded negative-sense RNA (-ssRNA) genomes that are surrounded by a helical nucleocapsid. Filoviruses encode seven different proteins that include: NP (Nucleoprotein), VP35 (part of the polymerase complex), VP40 (Matrix Protein), GP (glycoprotein spike), VP30 (transcription activator), VP42 (second matrix protein), and L (RdRp). Of these proteins, GP and NP proteins are crucial for viral entry and replication.

GP is the protein responsible for pathogenic differences among ebolaviruses. GP encodes two glycoproteins, one of which is sGP (soluble glycoprotein) which has a role in Ebola pathogenesis. Research has suggested that sGP is able to subvert the host immune response increasing the EBOV pathogenesis.

NP contains both the filoviral genome and the anit-genome. NP oligomerization is responsible for the NC (helical nucleocapsid) formation which allows the -ssRNA genome to be protected against host cell degradation by endonucleases and host immune response. NP is also shown to recruit host cell proteins to facilitate virus transcription and replication within the cytoplasm.