The research team used novel antisense drugs to interrupt normal Ebola virus replication. The findings could serve as the basis for a new approach to quickly develop virus-specific therapies for known, emerging, and genetically engineered pathogens.
According to the researchers antisense drugs are useful against viral diseases because they are designed to enter cells and eliminate viruses by preventing their replication. The drugs, which act by blocking critical viral genetic sequences, may be more potent than anti-virals such as protease inhibitors, which seek to inhibit a protein needed for viral replication.
Ebola virus causes hemorrhagic fever with case fatality rates as high as 80% in humans. The virus is of concern both as a global health threat and a potential agent of biological warfare or terrorism. Currently there are no available vaccines or therapies.
“One advantage of this strategy is that it directly targets the virus,” said Kelly Warfield of the US Army Medical Research Institute. “With Ebola infection, the virus grows so fast that it overtakes the host immune system. What we did, essentially, was to hold off the viral replication long enough for the host to mount an immune response and clear the virus.”