Back

Developing and Characterizing a Murine Model of In Utero Transmission of Ebola Virus

Van Ert, H. A. A. M.; Henderson, C.; Smith, B. J.; Richards, P.; Kardin, E.; Eubank, E.; Fakhimi, M.; Liebermann, M.; Messingham, K.; Santillan, M.; Schultz, M.; Marzi, A.; Maury, W.

2026-08-05 microbiology
10.64898/2026.08.04.742335 bioRxiv
Show abstract

Ebola virus (EBOV) disease (EVD) is a hemorrhagic disease caused by EBOV infection. EVD outcomes in pregnant women are similar to non-pregnant women however, EVD is associated with negative fetal outcomes in [~]99% of cases. There is a critical need for a tractable small animal model to study maternal/fetal transmission of EBOV. We utilized interferon /{beta} receptor knock out mice infected and authentic EBOV or the model virus, recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus encoding EBOV glycoprotein (rVSV/EBOV). Infection with either virus during late pregnancy resulted in placental infection and vertical transmission to the fetus within 2-3 days. Robust levels of maternal and fetal proinflammatory cytokines were evident by day 5 after EBOV infection. Within the placenta, trophoblasts and endothelial cells were viral antigen positive. Elimination of the endosomal receptor NPC1 in junctional zone trophoblasts reduced placental infection and virus transmission to the fetus. These studies establish an infectious model that provides EBOV trafficking and pathogenesis insights during pregnancy. TeaserThis model provides key insights into how viral trafficking and maternal immune responses drive adverse fetal outcomes during gestational Ebola virus infection.

Matching journals

The top 3 journals account for 50% of the predicted probability mass.

50% of probability mass above

"Similar papers" are the closest papers from that journal in the model's embedding space. They show what the match is built on, but the ranking comes mostly from a classifier over the whole training set, not from these examples alone.