The goal of these studies is to provide insights into the mechanism of Ebola glycoprotein induced cytotoxicity. When the full-length glycoprotein (GP) is expressed in target cells, it induces a cell rounding and detachment phenotype. There is little known about the molecular mechanisms that lead to the cytotoxic phenotype. There are several GP mutants that show a reduced phenotype when expressed in target cells. A comparison of these mutants and the full-length GP using several different approaches should identify the mechanisms by which GP causes cytotoxicity.
