Ebola survivors generate specific antibodies against the virus

Madrid .- A Spanish investigation has verified that Ebola survivors generate antibodies "in small quantity", called "unicornio", which are able to identify the vulnerable zones of the virus and to neutralize it , a first step to obtain an effective vaccine for all its variants.

Researchers from the Department of Microbiology and the Research Institute of the University Hospital 12 de Octubre in Madrid are responsible for this discovery after studying samples of three patients infected with the virus who were treated in Spain.

The chief investigator and head of this department, Rafael Delgado, explained, in statements to the press, that the study is part of a new strategy called "reverse vaccinology" for get vaccine agents, or because they do not do it There are, as in the case of HIV, or because they're not one hundred percent effective, as in the case of influenza .

This strategy consists in discovering which are the most vulnerable zones of the virus, which are generally present on the surface of the proteins that surround it and, from there, vaccines capable of inducing the antibodies which identify these areas.

In this case, they showed that among the special survivors of Ebola, there are special antibodies in a very small proportion, but that they recognize the most remote and most vulnerable areas of the virus present in all varieties of Ebola. "We have been able to demonstrate that in these patients, there are antibodies in small amounts, that they have very special properties, they are very effective because they are directed against areas absolutely critical for the virus," Delgado explains. . .

It is the first time that these "unicorn" antibodies are detected in real samples of patients who have overcome the infection, since they had already been identified in clones created in the laboratory.

"These antibodies, if they were in greater quantity, would surely be protective against all circulating Ebola virus varieties, the challenge would be to induce large amounts of these very special antibodies through a vaccine "explained Delgado.

According to the researcher, this vaccine would be modified to "express" the most vulnerable areas on the surface of the virus.

"That would be the most important application," he said.

In particular, it would be through the modification of the virus envelope in the laboratory and thus would be able to induce a higher production of these "unicorn" antibodies.

Delgado pointed out that we hope to get an effective vaccine, but that "the first steps" are still underway, because it must first be studied in the mouse, some results could be ready in a year.

Similarly, the strategy is also used to advance a universal vaccine with a longer duration for the influenza virus and for another against HIV, since it has been shown, according to Delgado, that it There are also protective antibodies that recognize the most vulnerable and hidden regions of the virus.

"The induction of these antibodies by vaccines is now the challenge of vaccinology in the future," insisted the researcher.

And do most vaccines work for their ability to induce the production of antibodies that recognize and neutralize the envelope that viruses have on their surface, which is the case for some " very effective "like hepatitis B or measles.

However, in the case of Ebola, influenza or HIV, one of its disadvantages is the variability and ability of these viruses to "hide" the most vulnerable areas of their envelope.

The research, conducted in collaboration with the Infectious Diseases Unit of the La Paz Hospital, Madrid, is published in a special supplement of the journal The Journal of Infectious Diseases.