New Method Ebola Virus Uses to Infect Cells
Published:16 Jan.2024 Source:Texas Biomedical Research Institute
Understanding how viruses travel once inside the human body is critical to develop effective drugs and therapies that can stop viruses in their tracks. Scientists at Texas Biomedical Research Institute (Texas Biomed) recently published findings in the Journal of Infectious Diseases indicating that Ebola virus creates and uses intercellular tunnels to move from cell to cell and evade treatments.
Using state-of-the-art technology with live scanning electron and high-resolution 3D-microscopy, Dr. Shtanko and her team showed that Ebola virus infection in cells enhanced the formation of tunneling nanotubes containing viral particles. The tunneling nanotubes then promoted the transfer of these particles to other cells. Notably, the full virus was not required to trigger nanotube formation, only small sections of the virus coding for individual proteins were needed. This happened even in the presence of treatments meant to stop Ebola virus.
How exactly Ebola virus particles are transported through tunneling nanotubes is still an open question. Dr. Shtanko and her team plan to try to find answers using advanced technologies such laser microdissection, mass spectrometry and low-abundance RNA sequencing. They will also explore if related viruses, including deadly Sudan and Marburg viruses, exploit the same mechanism to spread infection.