Use of white cells to make antibodies against Ebola
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Using leukocyte cones from individuals who have recovered from Ebola infection for the purpose of isolating human B cells for therapeutic monoclonal antibody development
IRAS ID
166610
Contact name
Alain Townsend
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Oxford
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Ebola virus causes a severe and often fatal infection. At the moment treatment is mainly supportive, and in the absence of any licensed therapeutic agents, the case fatality rate is between 50-90%. Recent work has shown that mice and humans who recover from the infection produce antibodies that can neutralise the virus, and if these are used as a therapy can aid recovery. In pre-clinical tests in non-human primates some combinations of antibodies (known as ZMapp) can provide curative therapy several days into the course of the Ebola illness, and have shown promising results in humans who have been treated.
Each human is unique, and produces a unique set of antibodies in response to infection, some of which may have these curative properties. It is likely that antibodies even more powerful than ZMapp can be produced by rare individuals. In addition to finding good therapeutic antibodies, the continued search for new antibodies, with a range of specificities for Ebola, is necessary to keep pace with the evolution of the virus, because it mutates with time and can change the nature of its antigens.
Techniques for isolating pure antibodies from humans have been developed recently. A variety of different methods have been used, but all require the isolation of messenger RNA from the antibody producing B cells from the responding individual. A DNA copy of the RNA is then used to express the encoded antibody proteins which are screened for their binding to Ebola proteins. Subsequent tests identify which antibodies neutralise the virus. The DNA genes encoding these therapeutic antibodies can then be used to scale up production massively for therapeutic trials.
REC name
South Central - Oxford B Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/SC/1335
Date of REC Opinion
14 Oct 2014
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion