Weighing Hepatitis C virus hold on membranes

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http://www.huliq.com/11/70964/weighing-hepatitis-c-virus-hold-membranes

Weighing Hepatitis C virus hold on membranes

Hepatitis C affects around 150 million people worldwide and is a major cause of

chronic liver disease. Current treatment involves the anti-viral drugs

interferon and ribavirin, both of which have serious side effects.

As part of ongoing research to combat the hepatitis C virus, researchers are

studying how the virus' replication machinery attaches to cell membranes.

Membrane attachment is a necessary step in the replication of the hepatitis C

virus. If doctors can prevent the virus from latching onto membranes inside the

host cell, they may be able to control the disease. Curt and Glenn

of Stanford University and their colleagues have identified a helical portion of

one viral protein, called NS5A, which seems to be one of the virus' membrane

" adhesives. "

To understand how this protein works, the scientists exposed the protein to a

range of artificial membranes placed on a quartz crystal microbalance. This

dime-sized device, which can measure a mass increase of as little as 18

nanograms, recorded how much, if any, of the protein attached to the different

membrane surfaces.

The team discovered that the protein targets a particular combination of lipid

and proteins in cell membranes. With further research, they hope to better

pinpoint where the virus latches on, so that drugs might be developed to

interfere with the process.-American Institute of Physics