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Bats are commonly recognized as the principal hosts of filoviruses such as Ebola, however the particular host species of ebolaviruses is unknown. Under the direction of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (Einstein) and the University of California, Davis, researchers have created a new technique that will enhance wildlife surveillance and limit possible host species of filoviruses. The studies are a part of worldwide initiatives to stop virus transmission between humans and animals.
Published today in the journal Cell Host & Microbe, the research discusses the molecular mechanisms behind filovirus recognition of their receptor and facilitates the identification of unknown hosts of these viruses.
The key question is where will the next ebolavirus outbreak originate. Scientists cannot predict how, where, or when that will happen if they do not know the species host.
From 2014 to 2016, three West African nations saw the largest filovirus outbreak driven by Ebola virus. More than 11,000 people died and more than 28,000 were infected. More recently, at least 15 deaths and 66 cases resulted from a filovirus outbreak brought on by Marburg virus starting last September in Rwanda.
The most thorough research of filovirus receptor binding in bats to date is this one. An ebolavirus glycoprotein must bind to a cell receptor before entering a human cell.
Researchers helped identify the crucial Ebola entry receptor Niemann-Pick C1 (NPC1) in 2011 as a cholesterol-trafficking protein.
Incredibly, all filoviruses isolated thus far depend on NPC1 as a receptor.
The authors of this study performed extensive binding experiments to assess the interaction affinity between glycoprotein from various filoviruses and bat NPC1 proteins. They also unlocked the genetic code underlying receptor binding for these viruses using machine learning.
The scientists then concentrated on bat species whose NPC1 proteins bind tightly to the Ebola virus glycoprotein and inhabit in areas where past Ebola outbreaks have been recorded. This helps focus which bat species would be very likely hosts of the virus.
According to researchers, this is combining two seemingly unrelated but beautiful bits of the puzzle—geographic information and genetic data—all to help answer the question, would these bats have the ability to host the virus or not?
This research may inspire further monitoring activities aimed at determining the host reservoir of Ebola virus and other associated viruses. Scientists can also use this approach to evaluate their possible human transmissible as new ebolaviruses and variants are found.
Part of the inspiration for the research came from a 2015 study by Chandran showing apparently resistant African straw-colored fruit bats to Ebola virus infection. The Ebola virus attached poorly to NPC1 receptor found in straw-colored fruit bats.
A number of species were ruled out as potential hosts due to their inability to catch the infection. Information the researchers needed is knowledge regarding which species are more likely to be the host reservoir and which are not.
Sources:
Decoding the blueprint of receptor binding by filoviruses through large-scale binding assays and machine learning. (2025). Cell Host & Microbe. DOI: 10.1016/j.chom.2024.12.016. www.cell.com/cell-host-microbe … 1931-3128(24)00483-9
https://phys.org/news/2025-01-narrow-ebola-virus-hosts-species.html
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