Вирусология и микология
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HCV Infection and NS-3 Serine Protease Inhibitors

Sobia Idrees and Usman A Ashfaq

Infection with Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) is a major health problem affecting 270 million people worldwide and 10 million people in Pakistan. Currently, there is no vaccine available for prevention of HCV infection due to the high degree of strain variation. The current standard of care is a combination of Pegylated interferon ? (PEG-INF ?) with ribavirin and Boceprevir/Telaprevir. Hence, there is a need to develop new antiviral agents from different targets. HCV NS3, a nonstructural protein has serine/protease and helicase domain, and these domains are considered as important antiviral drug targets to combat HCV. In the past 15 years, major scientific advances have enabled the development of many novel serine/protease and helicase inhibitors by using in vivo as well as in vitro model systems. Most of NS3 protease inhibitors have entered in different clinical trials phases but still there is a need to improve the functionality of these inhibitory compounds. This review summarizes potent antiviral compounds against HCV NS3 protease and their activity in combination with standard therapy. In conclusion, it will be very exciting to see HCV NS3-4A serine protease/helicase inhibitors progress through clinical developments and, hopefully, provide hepatitis C patients with much needed, more effective therapies.