Ebola update: How the virus disables the body’s immune system

The Ebola virus is known for how quickly and effectively it shuts down a hosts’s immune system. Scientific research has already identified proteins within the virus that hamper the host’s immune response, while a new study has gone a little further, showing that Ebola also prevents specific “killer” immune cells from attacking the virus. Previous studies have identified two protein regions within the Ebola virus ‘ structure called interferon inhibiting domains (IIDs). These are responsible for disabling the host’s immune system defenses. The new study, published in PLOS Pathogens, shows how these domains also counter the activity of T lymphocytes and killer cells, which both kill virus-infected cells, as well as B lymphocytes, which secrete antibodies, according to a news release from The University of Texas Medical Branch. Researchers engineered versions of Ebola to examine how exactly the virus thwarts or disables our immune defenses. The team studied genetically altered strains of...