3.4 Comparison between pseudotyped EBOV-based and authentic EBOV-based neutralization assay
Equine immunoglobulin fragments against EBOV, which were produced previously (Zheng et al., 2016), were used as a positive control for the optimization of the pseudotyped EBOV-based neutralization assay. After optimization, the pseudotyped EBOV-based neutralization assay was used to measure the neutralization activity of the immunoglobulin fragments, and the neutralization assay based on authentic EBOV was also performed. As expected similar results were acquired between the two different assays (Fig. 3a). Both NT50 values were higher than 1:20,000 (1:20,480 for pseudotyped EBOV; 1:21,333 for live EBOV), suggesting that the pseudotyped EBOV could be used in neutralization assay with similar infectivity compared to authentic and live EBOV, but with a reduced health risk.