Figure 1.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) lifecycle and potential targets for direct-acting antivirals (DAAs).

Notes: (A) The virus gains entry by receptor-mediated endocytosis. (B) Fusion and uncoating occur and the HCV genomic RNA is released from the nucleocapsid into the cytoplasm. (C) Translation into a single large polyprotein occurs in the endoplasmic reticulum. (D) This polyprotein is then cleaved by viral and host proteases into 10 mature HCV proteins, including structural proteins (HCV core protein and envelope proteins E1 and E2) and non-structural proteins (P7, NS4A, NS4B, NS5A, and NS5B). (E) These viral and host proteins form a membrane bound replication-complex. (F) Transcription takes place, dependent upon the RNA helicase (RNA-dependent RNA polymerase or NS5B polymerase) where the positive-strand RNA serves as a template for transcription. (G) Virion assembly occurs in the Golgi apparatus when viral glycoproteins combine with newly produced RNA. (H) Virion maturation, budding and release from the hepatocyte occurs. The site of action of current DAAs are listed at each step in the HCV life cycle.