Grant: Operating Grant

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a bloodborne pathogen that is a major cause of liver disease worldwide with approximately 170-200 million chronic carriers of HCV worldwide. In Canada, approximately 250,000-300,000 people are infected with an estimated 30 per cent eventually developing worsening liver diseases including cirrhosis or liver cancer. HCV is one of the leading causes of end-stage liver disease leading to liver transplantation in North America and western Europe. The interaction of HCV with the host cell causes some unique changes in the membranes of the cell. This includes the formation of a unique "membranous web" that serves as the site of virus production as a separate compartment within the cell cytoplasm. The precise structure and function of the membranous web remains unclear. Studies in this grant will provide new insight into the formation and function of the membranous web and possibly lead to new approaches to disrupt viral production in the infected liver cells.