Scientists get first look at T cell responses in Ebola virus survivors New Scripps Research study offers guidance for more effective Ebola vaccines
LA JOLLA, CA June 23, 2018 Scientists conducting the first comprehensive study of key immune system cells collected from West African Ebola survivors that kill Ebola infected cells have made a surprising discovery that provides important clues to developing effective vaccines against the infection.
The study, which focused on immune system sentries known as killer (CD8 ) T cells, showed that nearly all (96 percent) of the Ebola survivors had T cells that responded to viral protein, nucleoprotein on cells expressing Ebola proteins. In contrast, it was surprising that the virus's outer glycoproteins, presumed to be the main targets for killer T cells, were recognized in a minority (38 percent) of previously infected individuals.
The whole idea of vaccination is to mimic the immune response that the person makes after they have the infection and get over the infection, says Michael B. Oldstone, MD, a professor at Scripps Research and senior author of a paper reporting the findings, published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The research was supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health.
Our study of the immune response in Ebola survivors, Oldstone adds, suggests that a vaccine targeting not only the glycoprotein but Ebola's nucleoprotein would likely be more effective than the current vaccines that only express the glycoprotein.
In collaboration with the government of Sierra Leone and research partners at Tulane University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, the researchers analyzed blood samples from 30 survivors of the 2013 2016 Ebola epidemic in West Africa. Their goal was an unbiased study designed to characterize the total cytotoxic killer T cell response to the Ebola virus proteins in these survivors. CD8 cytotoxic T cells destroy infected cells that are the factories producing the virus.
To study CD8 cytotoxic T cell responses in these survivors, the researchers tested the blood samples against seven of the eight proteins encoded by the Ebola virus's genetic material. These proteins are expressed on cells infected by Ebola virus. In the new study, the scientists cut the viral proteins into small pieces, called peptides, which complex with specialized proteins unique for each individual, termed the human leukocyte antigen (HLA). The HLA/viral peptide complex is transported from inside the infected cell to its outer surface.
Once presented there, the cytotoxic T cell recognizes the complex resulting in activation and destruction of the infected cell. The HLA/peptide complex forms the epitope recognized by the specific CD8 cytotoxic T cell.
The team found that 96 percent of the Ebola survivors made cytotoxic CD8 T cells that responded to a protein of Ebola virus called the nucleoprotein. Meanwhile, only 38 percent of these survivors responded to either of the virus's two glycoproteins.
This finding came as a surprise because other studies had suggested that the glycoprotein was the main target for effective immune responses and current experimental Ebola vaccines have been designed to only contain the Ebola glycoprotein. This study also revealed 34 new, smaller sites, called epitopes, on Ebola virus proteins killer T cells specifically target. The discovery of these epitopes will inform future studies of how the immune system targets the virus.
Going forward, the researchers plan to study samples from people who may have been infected with Ebola virus but never presented with symptoms, such as the family members of victims of the epidemic. They also hope to uncover why some people survived Ebola virus infection, only to experience reactivation of the virus months or years later.
Now that we are analyzing in depth the basic T cell responses, numerous studies by us and others are to follow, Oldstone says.
Additional authors of the study, Analysis of CD8 T cell Response During the 2013 2016 Ebola Epidemic in West Africa, were Saori Sakabe, Brian Sullivan, Refugio Robles-Sikisaka, Karthik Gangavarapu, Beatrice Cubitt, Brian Ware, Kristian Andersen and Juan de la Torre of Scripps Research; Jessica Hartnett and John Schieffelin of the Tulane University School of Medicine; Dylan Kotliar of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Luis Branco of Zalgen Labs; Augustine Goba, Mambu Momoh, John Sandi, Lansana Kanneh and Donald Grant of the Kenema Government Hospital; Robert Garry of Tulane University; and Pardis Sabeti of Harvard University and the Broad Institute.
The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (contract HHSN272201400048C). About Scripps Research
Scripps Research is one of the worlds preeminent independent, not-for-profit organizations focusing on research in the biomedical sciences. Scripps Research is internationally recognized for its contributions to science and health, including its role in laying the foundation for new treatments for cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, hemophilia, and other diseases. An institution that evolved from the Scripps Metabolic Clinic founded by philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps in 1924, the institute now employs more than 2,500 people on its campuses in La Jolla, CA, and Jupiter, FL, where its renowned scientists including two Nobel laureates and 20 members of the National Academies of Science, Engineering or Medicine work toward their next discoveries. The institutes graduate program, which awards PhD degrees in biology and chemistry, ranks among the top ten of its kind in the nation. For more information, see www.scripps.edu.
# # #
For informatio
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
30/08/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has adopted its FY 2025 Regulatory Fees Order that establishes the regulatory fee rates for the broadcast stati...
29/08/2025
Australian Red Cross and SBS launch training to help workplaces in the fight aga...
29/08/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
29/08/2025
L3Harris Technologies has concentrated decades of expertise across the entire enterprise to develop affordable and reliable best-of-breed solutions to rapidly c...
29/08/2025
BURBANK, Calif. The CW Network and the Pac-12 Conference have announced a new media rights deal that will extend their broadcast partnership beginning with the ...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK Gracenote has released a new analysis of its global video dataset showing that the number of FAST channels grew nearly 14% from Q1 2025 and 76% since 2...
29/08/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced a series of improvements to its live sports streaming solution that the company said will improve fan engagement, protec...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES Fox Corp. and YouTube TV last night announced a renewal of the full portfolio of Fox networks, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business...
29/08/2025
Budapest, Hungary, August 2025 - The integration of Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) with Lightware's Taurus universal matrix switchers delivers a new level of f...
29/08/2025
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's best-known streaming television channels, today announced it will launch Studio Live, a next-generation uni...
29/08/2025
In an era when AI and cyber resilience are essential, Scality will mark the 10th anniversary of Scality Day on October 16, 2025 in Paris. This flagship global e...
29/08/2025
Disguise's In-House Creative and Technical Teams Pre-Visualised, Programmed and Delivered Content for the Experience, All Powered by EX 3+
Technology solu...
29/08/2025
Disguise will be demonstrating the latest workflows for TV, film and live events on a number of partner booths at the show
Disguise, the industry-leading tech...
29/08/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Accedo will showcase Accedo Compose, its AI agent-powered modular orchestration layer that assists streaming providers in transitioning client...
29/08/2025
LOS ANGELES Cineverse has announced that it is working with Xperi to bring four of its streaming channels to automobiles for the first time as part of the DTS A...
29/08/2025
DALLAS & ATLANTA Gray Media has announced an agreement with the sports streaming service Victory+ to simulcast 17 Dallas Stars NHL games in 15 television market...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK AND CULVER CITY Comcast NBCUniversal and Amazon have announced new and extended distribution agreements that will expand the content available on their...
29/08/2025
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. RED Digital Cinema will feature its Cine-Broadcast Module supporting live broadcast workflows during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Ams...
29/08/2025
29 Aug 2025
Kyivstar Rings Opening Bell at Nasdaq Marking Landmark Listing and ...
29/08/2025
More than half of all NFL games live on Sky for the first timeFriday 29 August 2025
Sky Sports has announced a new three-year deal with the NFL, extending its ...
29/08/2025
Back to All News
RIV4LRIES: The Trailer of the New Series With Samuele Carrino ...
29/08/2025
Get ready for an inspiring and emotional insight into the world of competitive Irish dancing with My Story: Tomi Champion of the World airing on RT 2 this monda...
29/08/2025
RT has today announced that David McCullagh is to be the new presenter of RT Radio 1's flagship Today programme, which airs every weekday at 10am, replaci...
28/08/2025
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
If you want to tell untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless, you've got ...
28/08/2025
Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Sundance Institute-supported Amer...
28/08/2025
Corridos have been a cornerstone of M sica Mexicana for generations, telling stories rooted in everyday life. Now, a new chapter is taking shape: motivational c...
28/08/2025
Los corridos han sido un pilar de la M sica Mexicana durante generaciones, contando historias enraizadas en la vida cotidiana. Ahora, un nuevo cap tulo est tom...
28/08/2025
Earlier this month, we promised our Verano Forever party would bring the heat, a...
28/08/2025
L3Harris will provide the Polish F-16V fleet with the Viper Shield electronic warfare system as part of an upgrade program....
28/08/2025
Bilbao, August 26, 2025 - AgileTV, an international television and video technol...
28/08/2025
Ken Wilkinson is an Emmy Awards nominated New York audio engineer who specialises in production sound mixing for film, commercial, episodic and documentary work...
28/08/2025
NEW YORK FuboTV today announced that it will launch Fubo Sports, a skinny bundle that focuses on sports with a subscription price of $56 monthly....
28/08/2025
NEVADA City, Calif. At IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam, Telestream will debut its new Global Ingest strategy, introducing a next-generation ingest arc...
28/08/2025
Dr. Rhoda Bernard Releases Groundbreaking Debut Book on Accessible Arts Educatio...
28/08/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real-time visualization, has named Oliver Gappa as Sales Di...
28/08/2025
AI-based voice enhancement will be among a series of innovations making their IBC 2025 debut on the DHD stand B46 in Hall 8 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Cent...
28/08/2025
Telef nica Servicios Audiovisuales (TSA), the leading system integrator and service provider in the media sector in Spain, with the support of Appear, the globa...
28/08/2025
To fully immerse sailing fans in the world's biggest offshore yacht race, production company, Optical Media turned to LiveU's On-site Production solutio...
28/08/2025
Working with Calrec on its most recent overhaul, radio and television broadcaster, WNED has migrated to a fully IP infrastructure with multiple Type R consoles,...
28/08/2025
Cleeng, the Subscriber Retention Management (SRM ) inventor, has unveiled Cleeng Pro, the first-ever direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription management platform t...
28/08/2025
Zixi, the industry leader in live broadcast-quality video over IP, today announced that French media distribution platform OKAST has selected Zixi to enable rel...
28/08/2025
Solution offers a streamlined, speaker-free architecture to optimize integration with premium external loudspeakers and advanced loudness metering
Nixer Pro Au...
28/08/2025
Cinegy, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has announced a strategic partnership with Vision One Touch Film Production Services L.L...
28/08/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will debut its new Global Ingest strategy at IBC2025, introducing a next-generation ingest architect...
28/08/2025
Tier 1 operator selects Broadpeak to power high-performance, unified CDN solution across Norway, Sweden and Finland
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and moneti...
28/08/2025
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that 24 Frames Digital, one of India's leading live event streaming service providers, has chose...
28/08/2025
Meet VisualOn at IBC2025: See What's Next in AI-Powered Video Streaming Join VisualOn at IBC2025 and discover how our AI-driven Optimizer and advanced media...
Scientists get first look at T cell responses in Ebola virus survivors New Scripps Research study offers guidance for more effective Ebola vaccines
