Hepatitis-C virus stopped from multiplying

TOKYO, Oct 17, 2005 (UPI via COMTEX) -- A Japanese research team says it has found a method that prevents the hepatitis-C virus from multiplying.

The method deals with cells infected with the virus, not the virus itself, meaning drugs could be developed to stop the multiplication process while preventing the virus from becoming resistant, the researchers said.

It is still unknown how hepatitis-C virus multiplies once inside infected cells. But researchers know once the virus enters the cell, it develops a platform for multiplication by combining itself with a certain lipid, an organic compound.

Masayuki Sudo and colleagues at the Chugai Pharmaceutal Co. in Tokyo used the lipid to pinpoint the platform inside cells where the HCV had combined itself with the lipid. Without the platform, the HCV is unable to duplicate itself, the researchers said.

Using human liver cells, the team added a substance to the lipid that prevented it from combining with the HCV. Thus, the platform for multiplication could not synthesize, the researchers said.

"If we can target the mechanism of virus-infected cells, it could prompt the development of more effective drugs," Sudo said.

The team's report appears on the Web site of the journal Nature Chemical Biology.

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