Figure 4.

The selection of RNA inhibitors targeting the HCV internal ribosome entry site (IRES): (a) The identification of the aptamer targets within the IRES. The targets determined by the complementary sequence to the consensus motif that define each aptamer’s group are indicated using a colour code on the schematic representation of the secondary structure of the IRES. (b) The inhibition of the IRES activity by a collection of selected aptamers: The IRES-dependent translation was measured in vitro as the Fluc activity. The values are the mean of at least three independent experiments and are referred to the activity in the absence of an RNA inhibitor. Figure adapted from [61].