Identification of Ebola Virus Inhibitors Targeting GP2 Using Principles of Molecular Mimicry

Abstract

The most recent Ebola virus disease outbreak, from 2014 to 2016, resulted in approximately 28,000 individuals becoming infected, which led to over 12,000 causalities worldwide. The particularly high pathogenicity of the virus makes paramount the identification and development of promising lead compounds to serve as inhibitors of Ebola infection. To limit viral load, the virus-host membrane fusion event can be targeted through the inhibition of the class I fusion glycoprotein of Ebolavirus . In the current work, several promising small-molecule inhibitors that target the glycoprotein GP2 were identified through systematic application of structure-based computational and experimental drug design procedures.