Ebola virus is a deadly disease with mortality rates of 40% to as high as 90% observed in outbreaks of the Ebola Zaire and Sudan species. Ebola has been categorized as a priority class A pathogen due to its virulence, ease of dissemination, lack of effective countermeasures to prevent or treat them, and their potential to cause public panic and social disruption (Dupuy &Schmaljohn, 2009). There are currently no consistent mechanisms for preventing or treating infection, and development of effective vaccines and/or drugs is a high priority. During the past year, the laboratory continued to test drugs that target tyrosine kinases and evaluating their effect on the Ebola virus. Data indicate that potent tyrosine kinase antagonists inhibit Ebola virus replication both in an in vitro egress and in vitro infection assays. The lab is currently conducting in vivo pharmacokinetic studies.

Project Start
Project End
Budget Start
Budget End
Support Year
9
Fiscal Year
2012
Total Cost
$240,588
Indirect Cost
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State
Country
Zip Code
GarcĂ­a, Mayra; Cooper, Arik; Shi, Wei et al. (2012) Productive replication of Ebola virus is regulated by the c-Abl1 tyrosine kinase. Sci Transl Med 4:123ra24
Shi, Wei; Huang, Yue; Sutton-Smith, Mark et al. (2008) A filovirus-unique region of Ebola virus nucleoprotein confers aberrant migration and mediates its incorporation into virions. J Virol 82:6190-9