Turkish Journal of Biology
DOI
-
Abstract
The hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Infection with HCV becomes chronic in more than 80% of cases and it accounts for 20% of all cases of acute hepatitis. The hepatitis C virus was first identified by the molecular cloning of the virus genome in 1989. It is an enveloped, positive strand RNA virus with a genome size of around 9.5 kilobases. The single-stranded RNA genome of the virus contains a large open reading frame that encodes a large polyprotein of 3,010 to 3,033 amino acids shown to be processed by a combination of host and viral proteinases to produce at least ten proteins post-translationally. The proteins that are closer to the amino terminal of the polyprotein are termed structural and the rest, closer to the carboxy terminal, are called nonstructural (NS) proteins.
First Page
253
Last Page
270
Recommended Citation
EROĞLU, ÇAĞLA and PINARBAŞI, ERGÜN (2000) "Hepatitis C Virus: Genome Organization, ViralProteins and Implications in Disease Pathogenesis," Turkish Journal of Biology: Vol. 24: No. 2, Article 8. Available at: https://journals.tubitak.gov.tr/biology/vol24/iss2/8
