A Highly Conserved Region of Hepatitis C Virus RNA a Promising Drug Target

A genetically conserved region within the RNA of the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the focus of research designed to aid development of drugs that would kill all forms of this notoriously variable pathogen.

Investigators at the University of Warwick (United Kingdom) employed advanced genomic analysis techniques to study the RNA structure and long-range interactions of the SL9266 cis-acting replication element located within the HCV NS5B coding region.

They reported in the May 4, 2012, online edition of the journal Nucleic Acids Research that the SL9266 region is very highly conserved and present in all Hepatitis C viruses. Thanks to its novel three-dimensional structure, this region may contribute a switch function that modulates the mutually incompatible translation and replication events that must occur for replication of the positive-strand RNA genome of HCV.

Senior author Dr. David Evans, professor of life sciences at the University of Warwick, said, “Hepatitis C is a growing concern worldwide and is set to place a massive demand on the organ transplant system. We are already at the stage in many countries where the main need for liver transplants is due to liver damage caused by the Hepatitis C virus. Current medication is not effective in all cases, and that is why it is vital that we continue to build on this early-stage research to focus drug development work on treatment which works across all Hepatitis C genotypes.”

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