Hepatitis B Virus Epsilon (ε) RNA Element: Dynamic Regulator of Viral Replication and Attractive Therapeutic Target.

ABSTRACT: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) chronically infects millions of people worldwide, which underscores the importance of discovering and designing novel anti-HBV therapeutics to complement current treatment strategies. An underexploited but attractive therapeutic target is ε, a cis-acting regulatory stem-loop RNA situated within the HBV pregenomic RNA (pgRNA). The binding of ε to the viral polymerase protein (P) is pivotal, as it triggers the packaging of pgRNA and P, as well as the reverse transcription of the viral genome. Consequently, small molecules capable of disrupting this interaction hold the potential to inhibit the early stages of HBV replication. The rational design of such ligands necessitates high-resolution structural information for the ε-P complex or its individual components.

SUBMITTER: Olenginski LT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10534774 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature