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Treatment of Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection: A Clinical and Virological Perspective

  • Chapter
Antiviral Chemotherapy 4

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 394))

Abstract

Hepatitis C virus (HCV), the etiologic agent of chronic non-A, non-B hepatitis,is a 9.4 kb positive strand RNA virus classified within the Flaviviridae family.1 The RNA genome of HCV encodes a single precursor polyprotein of 3011 amino acids, which is cleaved by host and viral proteases into a series of structural and non-structural proteins as reviewed elsewhere (Figure 1). (reviewed in reference 2) Although HCV gene products have not been definitively identified in infected hosts, they have been successfully expressed via genetic engineering.3,4 The HCV structural proteins (core and envelope) are thought to circulate in the blood of infected individuals as virion components, while the non-structural proteins (NS2-NS5) are thought to function as regulatory enzymes (e.g., protease, helicase, RNA replicase) during the intracellular phase of the viral life cycle.

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Authors
  1. David R. Gretch
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  2. Stephen J. Polyak
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  3. Richard A. Willson
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  4. Robert L. Carithers Jr.
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Macfarlane Burnet Centre for Medical Research, Fairfield, Victoria, Australia

    John Mills

  2. University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, USA

    Paul A. Volberding

  3. University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA

    Lawrence Corey

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© 1996 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Gretch, D.R., Polyak, S.J., Willson, R.A., Carithers, R.L. (1996). Treatment of Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection: A Clinical and Virological Perspective. In: Mills, J., Volberding, P.A., Corey, L. (eds) Antiviral Chemotherapy 4. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 394. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9209-6_20

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9209-6_20

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-9211-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-9209-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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