What is it about?
This article looks at one possible method that can be used to combat Ebola virus after the last epidemic which affected several African countries and including the US, leaving several people dead. The Ebola virus is regarded by the body as foreign and through special antigenic regions on its glycoprotein envelope, the host body (MAN), identifies these regions using immune genes of the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC), Human Leukocyte antigen (HLA) type I and type II. The specificity of the immune genes against the virus helps to destroy and eliminate it from the host. This genetic information was used In silico to identify such antigenic regions with relative HLA immune specific variants. We showed that out of the several Ebola viruses known, Zaire Ebola virus was less immunogenic compared to the others. This paper highlights viral genetic information which could be used for therapeutic designs against Ebola disease.
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Why is it important?
The importance of this work brings to light, the signaling cascade that occurs after Ebola virus infection and how in combination with the immune system, this cascade influences the expected immune response. Comparing the various types of Ebola virus known, It was observed that Zaire Ebola virus mounted the least immune response but placed itself as the parent strain from which others bud off. The immune antigenic variants identified against Ebola virus antigenic regions are promising targets for therapy against the Ebola disease.
Perspectives
This publication cuts across several aspects of Ebola virus genetics and disease parthenogenesis which is very important in defining therapy against the virus. During an immune response by the human body to a pathogen, the genetic signaling cascade, forms the basis of HLA variation and response observed. This work defines the lymphocyte-specific protein tyrosine kinase LCK gene as the most dominant and interactive signaling gene observed relative to immune function. Therapeutic design against Ebola virus, involves knowing the antigenic markers presented by the virus and the relative specific immune variants that the host expresses. This work carefully identifies the most potent antigenic variants expressed by Ebola virus and it's relative immune isoforms, therefore further understanding of the interplay between these two genetic factors will be a basis of designing a therapeutic approach to arrest and eliminate the disease.
Dr Daniel A Achinko
National Institutes of Health
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Epitope specificity and protein signaling interactions driving epidemic occurrences of Ebola disease, F1000Research, June 2015, Faculty of 1000, Ltd.,
DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.6515.1.
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