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

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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University of Warwick