Transcript UIC Office of Technology Management Technology Screening

1
Synthetic Ebola glycoprotein for
screening anti-Ebola entry inhibitors
Ebola virus infection causes severe viral
hemorrhagic fevers and has a mortality rate of
up to 90%.
There are five strains of Ebola virus. Each Ebola
virus genome contains seven genes that encode
eight viral proteins: glycoprotein (GP), sGP, NP,
VP24, VP30, VP35, VP40, and RNA-dependent
RNA polymerase (L).
Ebola glycoprotein mediates viral entry into host
cells. Virus entry is an essential component of
the viral life cycle and an attractive target for
therapy because inhibition of this step can block
the propagation of virus at an early stage,
minimizing the chance for the virus to evolve and
acquire drug resistance.
Thus, Ebola glycoprotein provides a target to
design and screen for anti-Ebola entry inhibitors.
UIC investigators have synthesized Ebola
glycoprotein and Marburg glycoprotein
expression constructs.
Reference Number
UIC-2015-047
Inventors
Lijun Rong
This glycoprotein expression vector can be used
to generate pseudotype viruses that package
Ebola-glycoprotein on the virion surface, which
allows for screening of Ebola entry inhibitors.
Campus
Chicago
Publications
Currently there are no effective therapies or
vaccines for Ebola virus.
Discovery, synthesis, and
biological evaluation of a
novel group of selective
inhibitors of filoviral entry – J
Med Chem 2011
Anti-infective drug discovery for Ebola presents
significant logistical and safety challenges due to
the requirement for biosafety level 4 (BSL-4)
containment and procedures.
Identification of a smallmolecule entry inhibitor for
filoviruses – J Virol 2011
Using synthetic Ebola glycoprotein to generate
pseudotype viruses allows for the screening of
anti-Ebola entry inhibitors in standard BSL -2
facilities.
Contact information:
David Klick
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 312-996-7779