Entry and replication of positive-sense, RNA viruses

National Institute Of Allergy And Infectious Diseases

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Abstract

HCV represents a major global public health problem, infecting approximately 70 million people worldwide. There is currently no approved vaccine to counter HCV infection. The Center for Disease Control estimates more than 40,000 new infections annually in the US alone with an additional 1.5 million new infections in the rest of world. Chronic HCV infection is curable by an effective, albeit expensive, antiviral therapy. Drug treatment is not, however, a feasible route to worldwide eradication of HCV infection, as the cost of doing so would be prohibitive. Moreover, successful treatment of a patient infected with one viral genotype does not preclude re-infection with another. The drug treatment approach is also complicated by the fact that most affected individuals are unaware that they are infected, and many engage in risky behaviors, such as intravenous drug use. Simply put, the best long term solution is to invest considerable intellectual and financial resources in discovery and development of a polyvalent vaccine effective against most, if not all, HCV viral genotypes. A critical receptor for HCV entry is CD81. This year we showed that CD81 is an important entry factor for equine arteritis virus, a member of the Arteriviridae family.