title: Hepatitis C viral life cycle.
abstract: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) has been recognized as a major cause of chronic liver diseases worldwide. Molecular studies of the virus became possible with the successful cloning of its genome in 1989. Although much work remains to be done regarding early and late stages of the HCV life cycle, significant progress has been made with respect to the molecular biology of HCV, especially the viral protein processing and the genome replication. This review summarizes our current understanding of genomic organization of HCV, features of the viral protein characteristics, and the viral life cycle.
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology II, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, 1-23-1 Toyama, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan. tesuzuki@nih.go.jp
authors.forename: Tetsuro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ishii
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Aizaki
authors.forename: Takaji
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wakita
mesh_terms: D005057:Eukaryotic Cells / Q000821:virology; D016679:Genome, Viral; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*