New ebolavirus vaccine design seeks to drive stronger antibody defense

Scientists at Scripps Research have unveiled a new Ebola virus vaccine design, which they say has several advantages over standard vaccine approaches for Ebola and related viruses that continue to threaten global health. In the new design, described in a paper in Nature Communications, copies of the Ebola virus outer spike protein, known as the glycoprotein, are tethered to the surface of a spherical carrier particle. The resulting structure resembles the spherical appearance of common RNA viruses that infect humans–and is starkly different from the snake-like shape of the Ebola virus. The scientists say the design is intended to stimulate a better protective immune response than standard vaccine approaches, which often expose the immune system to individual glycoproteins rather than realistic-looking virus particles. In designing the vaccine, the researchers also modified the outer spike protein to be more stable than the normal, “wild-type” version found in actual Ebola virus. In tests in mice...