Originally, Feldmann was the recipient of a grant from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) to study the glycoprotein, a surface protein, of Ebola in order to understand its role in how it leads to the disease. This initial study helped form a cluster of researchers at the NML, with members including Gary Kobinger, who is current director of its special pathogens unit and associate professor of medical microbiology at the U of M. Feldmann is now at Rocky Mountain Lab in Hamilton, Montana, and is still collaborating with U of M researchers on studies related to Ebola research. He retains a U of M appointment as associate professor in medical microbiology. His research leading to the 2005 paper in Nature Medicine used a vesicular stomatitis virus vector to deliver the Ebola proteins as a vaccine. Another approach under investigation by the group focuses on therapy. It is the vaccine that was used to treat the two Americans and was also partially developed and tested by Feldmann, Kobinger and their team. This approach uses three different recombinant (lab-produced) antibodies that recognize distinct regions of the Ebola glycoprotein, called ZMab. Antibodies are proteins produced by the immune system that bind to and inactivate infectious agents. Studies from the U of M-NML team have shown that this cocktail of three antibodies has limited disease in already-infected animals. news.umanitoba.ca/a-vaccine-against-ebola-the-university-of-manitoba-connection/
Posted on: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 00:23:37 +0000
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