Regulation of hepatitis C virion production via phosphorylation of the NS5A protein.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a significant pathogen, infecting some 170 million people worldwide. Persistent virus infection often leads to cirrhosis and liver cancer. In the infected cell many RNA directed processes must occur to maintain and spread infection.

Identification of residues required for RNA replication in domains II and III of the hepatitis C virus NS5A protein.

The NS5A protein of hepatitis C virus (HCV) plays an important but undefined role in viral RNA replication. NS5A has been proposed to be a three-domain protein, and the crystal structure of the well-conserved amino-terminal domain I has been determined. The remaining two domains of NS5A, designated domains II and III, and their corresponding interdomain regions are poorly understood.