Grant: Operating Grant

According to the WHO, approximately 150 - 200 million people worldwide are infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV), with close to 300000 infected individuals living in Canada. Chronic infection with the virus is strongly associated with severe liver disease, including hepatic fibrosis and cirrhosis. HCV infection is also a major cause of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in developed countries, including the US and Canada. While HIV/AIDS can be treated with more than 30 available antiviral agents that comprise six different classes of drugs, specifically targeted anti-HCV drugs are just being approved for clinical use. Here we propose to characterize the interactions between the various viral and cellular components of the HCV replication complex to pave the way for novel approaches to effectively interfere with propagation of the virus.