Entry of Ebola Virus is an Asynchronous Process

Abstract

Ebola virus (EBOV) is responsible for a severe fever with a high mortality rate. The diverse nature of the attachment of the virus to the cell surface, the initial step of virus entry, raises questions concerning the kinetics of the virus internalization process. We investigated EBOV entry kinetics using the activity of a particular monoclonal antibody that neutralizes virus infectivity. We demonstrate that inoculation of cells with EBOV results in an asynchronous entry process, as revealed by the ability of the virus to remain in a cell-bound state for an extended period of time before it is internalized.

Keywords: Ebola virus; family Filoviridae; glycoprotein GP; virus attachment; virus entry kinetics; virus neutralizing antibody.