Denying the wolf access to sheep's clothing.
Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) is a cause of acute and chronic liver disease for which no effective therapy is currently available. Previous research has demonstrated that prenylation of the large HDV antigen is essential for viral assembly. A new report describes a novel small animal model for HDV replication and demonstrates that prenylation inhibitors are highly effective at clearing viremia and thus have potential relevance for the treatment of chronic delta hepatitis.
Heller
Theo
T
Liver Diseases Research Branch, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA.
Hoofnagle
Jay H
JH
D000818:Animals; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000378:metabolism; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D003699:Hepatitis D / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000821:virology; D003698:Hepatitis Delta Virus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology*; D035923:Hepatitis delta Antigens / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D017368:Protein Prenylation / Q000187:drug effects; D017393:RNA Editing; D014766:Viremia / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000821:virology; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000187:drug effects
D000956:Antigens, Viral; D035923:Hepatitis delta Antigens