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

Our identification of IFNγ-elicited ISGs that inhibit EBOV infection adds to the ISGs that are identified to target this virus. To date, a limited number of ISGs has been identified to restrict EBOV infection, including tetherin, ISG15, RIG-I, STAT1 and STAT2 [54] [55] [56] [57] [58] [59] . Additionally, IFITM1 has been identified to inhibit EBOV entry. This ISG blocks EBOV GP-dependent entry [60] . Interestingly, in our studies, IFITM1 expression was not significantly upregulated in IFNγ-stimulated macrophages. Consistent with this, we did not see an IFNγdependent impact on total viral RNA present in cells at early times during infection (2 hours), suggesting very early events are not affected by IFNγ treatment. Consistent with this, a previous study demonstrated that IFNγ does not affect EBOV GP-dependent entry [32] .