New treatment for Ebola patients

Transfusions of convalescent serum and a potent oral antiviral drug, Brincidofovir, backed up with hydration and balanced levels of electrolytes in the blood, could offer a treatment for Ebola

Convalescent serum: Blood of Ebola survivor is centrifuged to remove cellular components

Serum carries antibodies of Ebola which can help patient fight virus

Blood cells

Brincidofovir  Also known as CMX001

Molecule of cidofovir 

Lipid side-chain

1 Cell membrane: Recognises lipid side chain, drug enters infected cell

2 Inside cell: Lipid side-chain detaches, high levels of cidofovir released

Cell membrane
Cell interior
Ebola genome made of RNA
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Ebola virus

Antibodies: Y-shaped proteins attach to viral envelope and prevent virus from entering cell

Virus

3 Phosphorylation: Cell’s own mechanism adds phosphate groups, producing highly active cidofovir diphosphate

4 Viral replication: Cidofovir diphosphate blocks polymerase enzyme that virus uses to make copies of its genome. Ebola replication stops

Antiviral in tablet form

Sources: Chimerix, Nebraska Medical Centre’s Biocontainment Unit