Hepatitis C virus internalization.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major cause of fibrosis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma worldwide and thus an important public health problem. No vaccine is available and the current treatment does not cure all patients. A better understanding of the HCV life cycle will aid in developing new antivirals. HCV entry is defined as the sequence of events initiated by attachment of the virus to its host cell end leading to the release of the viral genome into the cytoplasm. HCV entry into hepatocytes is a highly elaborated process involving many viral and cellular factors. Various cellular factors expressed on the surface of hepatocytes contribute to the early stages of viral attachment and entry. In addition, various intracellular proteins also play an important role during virus internalization. This review focuses on recent findings on the HCV entry process and highlights the factors and signaling pathways involved.