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

Disruption of EBOV infection in macrophages would be predicted to decrease virus loads and associated virus-induced cytokine dysfunction. One approach to controlling virus replication in macrophages is to elicit early innate immune responses. If these responses could be triggered prior to virus-mediated inhibition of these responses, systemic control of EBOV replication should be possible. Previous studies have investigated the ability of type I interferons (IFNs) to decrease EBOV morbidity and mortality with mixed results [11] [12] [13] . Jahrling et al. demonstrated that administration of IFN-alpha2b by itself did not significantly alter the course of EBOV in cynomolgus macaques, but more recently IFN-β was shown to prolong survival in rhesus macaques [11, 12] . Additionally, the combination of type I IFN with three monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against EBOV glycoprotein (GP) provided robust protection against lethal challenge, while neither the IFN nor mAbs alone was highly efficacious [13] .