Ebola virus (EBOV) belongs to the
Filoviridae family, which can
cause severe hemorrhagic fever in humans and nonprimates. The neutralization
of EBOV by monoclonal antibody (mAb) ADI-15946 was reported recently.
In the present study, the molecular interactions between the receptor
GPcl of EBOV and ADI-15946 were studied by molecular dynamics (MD)
simulation and molecular mechanics–Poisson–Boltzmann
surface area (MM–PBSA) analysis. Hydrophobic interaction was
identified as the main driving force for the binding of ADI-15946
on EBOV. Moreover, the contribution of each amino acid residue for
the binding was evaluated. Then, an affinity binding model (ABM) was
constructed using the residues favorable for the binding, including
Y107, F108, D109, W110, and R113. The biomimetic design of neutralizer
against EBOV according to the ABM of ADI-15946 was then performed,
followed by screening using docking, structural similarity. Two neutralizers
YFDWHMR and YFDWRYR were obtained, which were proven to be capable
of strong binding on GPcl and then neutralizing GPcl. These results
would be helpful for the development of neutralizers for Ebola virus.