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* Stealing Hepatitis C's raft - Nature Chemical Biology
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[1] Stealing Hepatitis C's raft
DOI: 10.1038/nchembio742
Scientists have found a new drug candidate that can be used to stop the
liver-damaging Hepatitis C virus (HCV) from multiplying. The research
reported in the November issue of Nature Chemical Biology showed that the
molecule keeps the virus from hijacking the lipid-making machinery in its
host cell, making it harder for the virus to replicate.
RNA-viruses like HIV and HCV are prone to drug resistance. This may be
because the drugs target proteins that the virus itself is making. To look
for new drug targets and drugs, Hiroshi Sakamoto and colleagues searched a
large number of naturally-occurring compounds for their ability to block the
replication of the virus. They found one compound, NA255 from a plant fungus
that works by blocking the host cell's ability to make certain lipids called
sphingolipids. This decreases the availability of specialized lipid
structures called rafts that the virus uses as a platform to replicate
itself.
Besides increasing our basic knowledge of how HCV replicates itself
within host cells, NA255 brings a new strategy to the anti-HCV arsenal by
targeting the host cell's machinery.
Author contact:
Hiroshi Sakamoto (Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Kanagawa, Japan)
Tel: +81 467 47 6773, E-mail: [email protected]
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