Development of an in vivo assay system suitable for screening inhibitors of hepatitis C viral protease

Abstract

The polyprotein encoded by hepatitis C virus (HCV) genomic RNA is processed into functional proteins by both host- and virus-encoded proteases. The HCV-encoded protease NS3 is responsible for the processing of junctions NS3/4, 4A/4B, 4B/5A, and 5A/5B. This protease is believed to be essential for virus proliferation. Therefore, HCV NS3 is a good therapeutic target in developing antiviral agents against HCV. We developed an in vivo assay system suitable for screening inhibitors of protease NS3 by using an artificial yeast transcription activator and a yeast strain generated to monitor the transcription activator function.