Potential cellular receptors involved in hepatitis C virus entry into cells

• Main Authors: Muellhaupt Beat, Favre Daniel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2005-04-01
• Series: Lipids in Health and Disease
• Subjects: hepatitis C virus; HCV; low density lipoproteins; LDL; CD81; SR-B1; exosomes; receptor; dextran sulfate; infection; lipids; statins
• Online Access: http://www.lipidworld.com/content/4/1/9

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infects hepatocytes and leads to permanent, severe liver damage. Since the genomic sequence of HCV was determined, progress has been made towards understanding the functions of the HCV-encoded proteins and identifying the cellular receptor(s) responsible for adsorption and penetration of the virus particle into the target cells. Several cellular receptors for HCV have been proposed, all of which are associated with lipid and lipoprotein metabolism. This article reviews the cellular receptors for HCV and suggests a general model for HCV entry into cells, in which lipoproteins play a crucial role.</p>