Perturbation of Ras-Erk and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase signalling pathways by the hepatitis C virus NS5A protein

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The World Health Organisation estimates that 170 million individuals are infected with the hepatitis C virus,with 3-4 million new cases occurring each year. Hepatitis is a disease of the liver, a very important organ in the body. The virus manages to survive in liver cells for many years before leading to disease which can result both in liver failure and liver cancer. Although there are treatments for the infection, they do not always work and often have unpleasant side effects ? new and better drugs are urgently needed. This research aims to discover how one of the components of the virus, a protein called NS5A, works to alter the function of liver cells that are infected with the virus, both to ensure virus survival and contribute to the disease caused by the virus. This is important becauseif we can understand how this protein works then we may be able to devise new chemicals that prevent its function ? these could have potential as new drugs to treat patients who have hepatitis C virus infection.