Ebola is caused by an RNA virus whose genome encodes proteins such as nucleoprotein, glycoprotein, and L protein that are all sealed in a viral envelope (Kenyon College). Although there currently are vaccines that target these vital structural proteins to prevent Ebola virus from infecting host cells, a few different strains of the deadly disease exist that vary enough in amino acid and nucleotide sequencing to make a general vaccine impossible to create.
To make matters worse, the Ebola virus also contains to potential to evolve, and this is what scientists from the Texas Biomedical Research Institute wanted to investigate in a new Journal of Virology publication.
Griffiths explained that they will not have to prevent Ebola from mutating all together, just stimulate enough stress to increase the mutation rate so viral cells are weakened and inviable.
"We found that Ebola virus had very limited ability to tolerate spontaneous changes in the genome,” he said.
They tested a drug for chronic hepatitis C, called ribavirin, to see if Ebola cells faltered like they predicted they would after meddling with the viral mutation rate. Ribavirin is a nucleoside inhibitor that prevents viruses from synthesizing RNA and viral mRNA capping (Merck). Although the team saw successful clinical trials in mice and monkey subjects, further studies are required to make ribavirin a substantial candidate for treating Ebola.
Source: Texas Biomedical Research Institute