Hepatitis C virus p7 protein is crucial for assembly and release of infectious virions.

ABSTRACT: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is associated with chronic liver disease and currently affects about 3% of the world population. Although much has been learned about the function of individual viral proteins, the role of the HCV p7 protein in virus replication is not known. Recent data, however, suggest that it forms ion channels that may be targeted by antiviral compounds. Moreover, this protein was shown to be essential for infectivity in chimpanzee. Employing the novel HCV infection system and using a genetic approach to investigate the function of p7 in the viral replication cycle, we find that this protein is essential for efficient assembly and release of infectious virions across divergent virus strains. We show that p7 promotes virus particle production in a genotype-specific man

SUBMITTER: Steinmann E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1924870 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature