Anti-Ebola virus mAb 3A6 protects highly viremic animals from fatal outcome via binding GP(1,2) in a position elevated from the virion membrane

Abstract Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against Ebola virus (EBOV) glycoprotein (GP1,2) are the standard of care for Ebola virus disease (EVD). Anti-GP1,2 mAbs targeting the stalk and membrane proximal external region (MPER) potently neutralize EBOV in vitro and are protective in a mouse model of EVD....

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Main Authors: Kathryn M. Hastie, Zhe Li Salie, Zunlong Ke, Peter J. Halfmann, Lisa Evans DeWald, Sara McArdle, Ariadna Grinyó, Edgar Davidson, Sharon L. Schendel, Chitra Hariharan, Michael J. Norris, Xiaoying Yu, Chakravarthy Chennareddy, Xiaoli Xiong, Megan Heinrich, Michael R. Holbrook, Benjamin Doranz, Ian Crozier, Yoshihiro Kawaoka, Luis M. Branco, Jens H. Kuhn, John A. G. Briggs, Gabriella Worwa, Carl W. Davis, Rafi Ahmed, Erica Ollmann Saphire
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-02-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56452-2
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Summary:Abstract Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against Ebola virus (EBOV) glycoprotein (GP1,2) are the standard of care for Ebola virus disease (EVD). Anti-GP1,2 mAbs targeting the stalk and membrane proximal external region (MPER) potently neutralize EBOV in vitro and are protective in a mouse model of EVD. However, their neutralization mechanism is poorly understood because they target a GP1,2 epitope that has evaded structural characterization. Using X-ray crystallography and cryo-electron tomography of mAb 3A6 complexed with its stalk–MPER epitope, we reveal a previously undescribed mechanism in which 3A6 binds to a conformation of GP1,2 that is lifted from the virion membrane. We further show that in both domestic guinea pig and rhesus monkey EVD models, 3A6 provides therapeutic benefit at high-viremia advanced disease stages and at the lowest dose yet demonstrated for any anti-EBOV mAb-based monotherapy. The findings reported here can guide design of next-generation highly potent anti-EBOV therapeutics and vaccines.
ISSN:2041-1723