Generation and Selection of a Panel of Pan-Filovirus Single-Chain Antibodies using Cell-Free Ribosome Display

Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2019 Jul;101(1):198-206. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.18-0658.

Abstract

Filoviruses, which include ebolaviruses and marburgvirus, can cause outbreaks of highly lethal hemorrhagic fever. This disease causes significant morbidity and mortality in humans and non-human primates, with human fatality rates reaching 90% during some outbreaks. Currently, there is lack of licensed vaccines or antivirals for these viruses. Since early symptoms of filovirus infection mimic more common diseases, there is a strong unmet public health and biodefense need for broad-spectrum filovirus rapid diagnostics. We have generated a panel of mouse single-chain Fv-antibodies (scFvs) to filovirus glycoproteins (GPs) using cell-free ribosome display and determined their cross-reactivity profiles to all known filovirus species. Two scFvs (4-2 and 22-1) were able to detect all known Ebolavirus and Marburgvirus species. This is the first report on ribosome display scFvs that can detect a broad set of filovirus GPs, which demonstrates the potential for use in diagnostics.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antibodies, Viral / physiology*
  • Antibody Affinity
  • Antibody Specificity
  • Cell-Free System
  • Cloning, Molecular
  • Filoviridae / immunology*
  • HEK293 Cells
  • Humans
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Ribosomes
  • Single-Chain Antibodies
  • Viral Proteins / immunology

Substances

  • Antibodies, Viral
  • Single-Chain Antibodies
  • Viral Proteins