Abstract
Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) assembly process is the least understood step in the virus life cycle. The functional data revealed by forward and reverse genetics indicated that both structural and non-structural proteins are involved in the assembly process. Using confocal and electron microscopy different groups determined the subcellular localization of different viral proteins and they identified the lipid droplets (LDs) as the potential viral assembly site. Here, we aim to review the mechanisms that govern the viral proteins recruitment to LDs and discuss the current model of HCV assembly process. Based on previous examples, this review will also discuss advanced imaging techniques as potential means to extend our present knowledge of HCV assembly process.
Highlights
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) represents a global health problem with 130 million people infected worldwide [1]
The result is a hybrid lipoviroparticle, which acquires ApoE presumably by its lipid component and in primary hepatocytes the lipoprotein moiety may mature into a VLDL-like structure
Until p7 is visualized in a functional infectious virus, we can only speculate that p7 would follow at least partially NS2 localization since these two proteins interact and p7 is a crucial determinant of NS2 subcellular localization [50,52,57]
Summary
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) represents a global health problem with 130 million people infected worldwide [1]. Between the structural and non-structural proteins there are two additional proteins most likely non-structural, called p7 and NS2 They are dispensable for replication, but they are emerging as major players in HCV assembly. The peculiarity of HCV and the other members of the Flaviviridae family in general is the crucial role played by both structural and non-structural proteins in the assembly process. Genetic, cell biology and biochemistry data highlight the role of practically all HCV proteins in the assembly process (reviewed in [10]). Another major specific feature of HCV is its strong dependence on lipoprotein biogenesis for its morphogenesis. This review aims to summarize the achieved progress and to suggest a working model and different perspectives
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