Evaluation of HCV infection inhibiting mechanisms

• Grant number: 09/14256-1
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: January 01, 2010
• End date: June 30, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology - Applied Microbiology
• Principal Investigator: Paula Rahal
• Grantee: Paula Rahal
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências, Letras e Ciências Exatas (IBILCE). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de São José do Rio Preto. São José do Rio Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the main causative agent of hepatitis non-A and non-B. The estimated overall prevalence of HCV infection is 2.2%, corresponding to 130 million HCV positive people in the world. Under currently available treatment for hepatitis C did not present results for 40% to 50% of patients of genotype 1 and 30% of patients with genotype 2 or 3 and also present some tolerable side addicted, there is the immediate need to find new anti-HCV drugs more effective. The NS3/4A serine protease and the polymerase NS5B are considered the most attractive targets for developing anti-viral drugs. The success of protease inhibitors and polymerase of HIV suggests that the NS3/4A and NS5A protein of HCV can be an excellent target for the development of new drugs. This project aims to assess possible ways of inhibiting HCV infection through the study of proteins NS3 and NS5A and other viral regions. Thus we have the following objectives: (i) assess the functional activity of variant forms of the NS3 protein (II) to develop molecules different siRNAs to conserved regions of the viral genome, (iii) evaluate the role of NS5A protein in the activation of proto-oncogene ²-catenin in hepatocellular carcinoma. Therefore, we believe that this project has fundamental importance to the contribution to knowledge on the enzymatic activity of proteins involved in viral replication, as well as knowledge about the interaction between viral proteins and host in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma. (AU)