In Vivo Delivery of Synthetic Human DNA-Encoded Monoclonal Antibodies Protect against Ebolavirus Infection in a Mouse Model

Synthetically engineered DNA-encoded monoclonal antibodies (DMAbs) are an in vivo platform for evaluation and delivery of human mAb to control against infectious disease. Here, we engineer DMAbs encoding potent anti-Zaire ebolavirus (EBOV) glycoprotein (GP) mAbs isolated from Ebola virus disease survivors. We demonstrate the development of a human IgG1 DMAb platform for in vivo EBOV-GP mAb delivery and evaluation in a mouse model. Using this approach, we show that DMAb-11 and DMAb-34 exhibit functional and molecular profiles comparable to recombinant mAb, have a wide window of expression, and provide rapid protection against lethal mouse-adapted EBOV challenge. The DMAb platform represents a simple, rapid, and reproducible approach for evaluating the activity of mAb during clinical development. DMAbs have the potential to be a mAb delivery system, which may be advantageous for protection against highly pathogenic infectious diseases, like EBOV, in resource-limited and other challenging settings. Monoclonal antibodies are an important approach for emerging infectious disease prevention. Patel et al. demonstrate engineering and in vivo delivery of DNA-encoded monoclonal antibodies (DMAbs) targeting the Zaire ebolavirus (EBOV) glycoprotein. DMAbs protect against lethal mouse-adapted EBOV and are useful for rapid evaluation of fully human mAbs in live animal models.