Interferon-? Inhibits Ebola Virus Infection

Rhein, Bethany A.; Powers, Linda S.; Rogers, Kai; Anantpadma, Manu; Singh, Brajesh K.; Sakurai, Yasuteru; Bair, Thomas; Miller-Hunt, Catherine; Sinn, Patrick; Davey, Robert A.; Monick, Martha M.; Maury, Wendy

These in vivo studies suggest that IFNγ may serve as an effective prophylactic and/or therapeutic drug against EBOV infection. Several different IFNs are currently FDA approved to treat a variety of infections and autoimmune disorders. Type I IFNs have been used clinically as therapeutics against both hepatitis B and C infections [73, 74] , but showed mixed efficacy against EBOV infection in NHPs [11] [12] [13] . The antiviral effects of IFNγ are less well-studied, but this protein is a FDA-approved therapy for chronic granulomatous disease and osteopetrosis [75, 76] . Chronic granulomatous patients receive IFNγ three times weekly to prevent infections, which can serve as life-long protective treatment in these patients [77, 78] . The established safety and effectiveness of IFNγ against these disorders and the ability of IFNγ to profoundly inhibit EBOV infection in our studies suggest that IFNγ may serve as an EBOV antiviral therapy.