Updated project metadata.
The 2013-2016 Ebola Zaire virus (EBV) outbreak in West Africa resulted in over 28,000 cases and 11,000 deaths. Ebola virus disease (EVD) is a highly virulent systemic disease with a high case fatality rate of ~ 50%. EVD results in hemorrhagic fever marked by an exaggerated systemic inflammatory response, and impaired vascular and coagulation systems. The immune response of patients who either survived or died is characterized by strong differences. Notably, fatalities showed a diminished capacity to mount an appropriate immune response, resulting in high viremia and increased pro-inflammatory cytokine production. In this study, we analyzed 38 sequential samples collected from 12 patients: 8 survivors and 4 fatalities. Our analytical strategy combined three protein-based platforms covering three different fractions of the plasma proteome: the undepleted classical plasma proteome, the depleted plasma proteome, and cytokines/chemokines, using LC/MS- and antibody-based assays, resulting in over 1000 quantified host and pathogen proteins. For depletion of the most abundant plasma proteins, we advanced a perchloric acid-based precipitation method. This method is low cost, high-throughput and robust.