currentsinbiology:Inside the hepatitis C virus is a promising antiviral A peptide derived from the
currentsinbiology: Inside the hepatitis C virus is a promising antiviral A peptide derived from the hepatitis C virus (HCV) kills a broad range of viruses while leaving host cells unharmed by discriminating between the molecular make-up of their membranes, reveals a study published January 5 in the Biophysical Journal. The peptide was potent against a range of cholesterol-containing viruses, including West Nile, dengue, measles, and HIV. “Although there are many antiviral drugs on the market, a common problem is that the virus learns how to evade them, becoming resistant to the drug treatment. There is a growing recognition that new classes of antiviral drugs that target multiple viruses are needed,” says senior study author Atul Parikh of the University of California, Davis and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. “Because the HCV-derived peptide appears to meet this need, we reason it targets the Achilles’ heel of viruses—a lipid coating or membrane envelope less likely to become resistant to drugs targeting them.” Electron micrographs of hepatitis C virus purified from cell culture. Scale bar is 50 nanometers. Credit: Center for the Study of Hepatitis C, The Rockefeller University. -- source link