Identification of a novel drug lead that inhibits HCV infection and cell-to-cell transmission by targeting the HCV E2 glycoprotein.

ABSTRACT: Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infects 200 million individuals worldwide. Although several FDA approved drugs targeting the HCV serine protease and polymerase have shown promising results, there is a need for better drugs that are effective in treating a broader range of HCV genotypes and subtypes without being used in combination with interferon and/or ribavirin. Recently, two crystal structures of the core of the HCV E2 protein (E2c) have been determined, providing structural information that can now be used to target the E2 protein and develop drugs that disrupt the early stages of HCV infection by blocking E2's interaction with different host factors. Using the E2c structure as a template, we have created a structural model of the E2 protein core (residues 421-645) that contains the three ami

SUBMITTER: Al Olaby RR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4214736 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature