Title: Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) as a paradigm for predicting antiviral activity against Ebola virus (EBOV)
Abstract: There are at present no antivirals available which have been formally licensed for clinical use for the treatment of Ebola virus (EBOV) infections in humans.The most advanced to be approved for this purpose is favipiravir (T-705), a viral RNA polymerase inhibitor.Under consideration are BCX4430, also a viral RNA polymerase inhibitor, and 3-deazaneplanocin A and various other S-adenosylhomocysteine (SAH) hydrolase inhibitors.A number of compounds which have been approved for other purposes seem to interact with the cell entry of EBOV.Some compounds like pyrazofurin have been found to be exquisitely potent inhibitors of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV).VSV belongs to the rhabdoviridae, a family closely related to the family of the filoviridae to which EBOV and Marburg virus belong.VSV, unlike EBOV and Marburg virus which require biosafety level 4, can be handled in conventional safety conditions.