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Cross-Neutralisation of Novel Bombali Virus by Ebola Virus Antibodies and Convalescent Plasma Using an Optimised Pseudotype-Based Neutralisation Assay

Published version
Peer-reviewed

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Authors

Richardson, Samuel 
Derveni, Mariliza 
Rijal, Pramila 
Townsend, Alain R. 

Abstract

Ebolaviruses continue to pose a significant outbreak threat, and while Ebola virus (EBOV)-specific vaccines and antivirals have been licensed, efforts to develop candidates offering broad species cross-protection are continuing. The use of pseudotyped virus in place of live virus is recognised as an alternative, safer, high-throughput platform to evaluate anti-ebolavirus antibodies towards their development, yet it requires optimisation. Here, we have shown that the target cell line impacts neutralisation assay results and cannot be selected purely based on permissiveness. In expanding the platform to incorporate each of the ebolavirus species envelope glycoprotein, allowing a comprehensive assessment of cross-neutralisation, we found that the recently discovered Bombali virus has a point mutation in the receptor-binding domain which prevents entry into a hamster cell line and, importantly, shows that this virus can be cross-neutralised by EBOV antibodies and convalescent plasma.

Description

Keywords

ebolavirus, pseudotyped virus, cross-neutralisation

Journal Title

Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

2414-6366

Volume Title

6

Publisher

MDPI
Sponsorship
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/R020116/1)