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Creators/Authors contains: "Valencia, Estefania"

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  1. Evidence suggests that bats are important hosts of filoviruses, yet the specific species involved remain largely unidentified. Niemann-Pick C1 (NPC1) is an essential entry receptor, with amino acid variations influencing viral susceptibility and species-specific tropism. Herein, we conducted combinatorial binding studies with seven filovirus glycoproteins (GPs) and NPC1 orthologs from 81 bat species. We found that GP-NPC1 binding correlated poorly with phylogeny. By integrating binding assays with machine learning, we identified genetic factors influencing virus-receptor-binding and predicted GP-NPC1-binding avidity for additional filoviruses and bats. Moreover, combining receptor-binding avidities with bat geographic distribution and the locations of previous Ebola outbreaks allowed us to rank bats by their potential as Ebola virus hosts. This study represents a comprehensive investigation of filovirus-receptor binding in bats (1,484 GP-NPC1 pairs, 11 filoviruses, and 135 bats) and describes a multidisciplinary approach to predict susceptible species and guide filovirus host surveillance. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available February 1, 2026