Abstract:
Ebola virus glycoprotein (GP) is the only protein that is expressed on the surface of the
virus. The GP proteins play critical roles in the entry of virus into cell and in the evasion
of the immune system. The GP gene transcript to membrane GP is constituted of two
subunits GP1 and GP2,and the secretory GP (sGP). The main function of GP1/2 is to attach
virus to target cell’s membrane, whereas sGP has multiple functions on Ebola pathogen‐
esis, such as inactivate neutrophils through CD16b causing lymphocyte apoptosis and
vascular dysregulation. There are many studies that focused on better understanding the
GP mechanism and aim at developing new antibodies and drugs such as VSV-EBOV,
cAd3-EBO Z, rVSVN4CT1 VesiculoVax, ‘C-peptide’ based on the GP2 C-heptad repeat
region (CHR) targeted to endosomes (Tat-Ebo) and MBX2270. In this chapter, we discuss
the Ebola viral glycoproteins, genomic organization, synthesis, and their roles and
functions. On the other hand, we treat the mechanisms of pathogenicity associated with
Ebola GPs.
Keywords: EBOLA, virus, glycoprotein (GP), entry, mechanism, pathogenesis, structure
