A New Weapon in Fight Against Ebola

The team has achieved an unprecedented goal: connecting 12 fullerenes, each one endowed with 10 sugar moieties, to other central fullerene, thus mimicking the presentation of carbohydrates surrounding the Ebola virus.  Credit: N. Martín & B. Illescas / UCM

CLICK HERE - A giant fullerene system inhibits the infection by an artificial Ebola virus

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Synthesis of giant globular multivalent glycofullerenes as potent inhibitors in a model of Ebola virus infection

scitechconnect.elsevier.com - by SPLICE - November 19, 2015

A discovery which may lead to the elimination of Ebola infections was published in Nature Chemistry a few days ago. The investigators reported that giant fullerene system inhibits the cell infection by an artificial Ebola virus.

Ebola virus infection starts with attachment of the virus to receptor DC-SIGN on dendritic cells, one of the most important cells of our immune response. These cells detect pathogens and are responsible for providing early warning to trigger the reaction of the immune system. According to Rafael Delgado, a researcher at the Hospital 12 de Octubre, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) and one of the co-authors of the publication, in case of Ebola virus this receptor acts as a point of entry for the virus into the body rather than playing a defensive role.

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