Abstract
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) p7 is a virus-coded ion channel, or 'viroporin'. p7 is an essential HCV protein, promoting infectious virion production, and this process can be blocked by prototypic p7 inhibitors. However, prototype potency is weak and effects in clinical trials are unsatisfactory. Nevertheless, recent structural studies render p7 amenable to modern drug discovery, with studies supporting that effective drug-like molecules should be achievable. However, burgeoning HCV therapies clear infection in the majority of treated patients. This perspective summarizes current understanding of p7 channel function and structure, pertaining to the development of improved p7 inhibitors. We ask, 'is this too little, too late', or could p7 inhibitors play a role in the long-term management of HCV disease?
Acknowledgements
Thanks to A Macdonald (Leeds) for constructive review of this manuscript. Thanks also to G Cook and S Opella (UCSD) for permission to show their monomeric NMR structure ahead of PDB release.
Financial & competing interests disclosure
Work on p7 in the laboratory is/was funded by MRC, Wellcome Trust, CRUK, and the University of Leeds Biomedical Health Research Centre (BHRC). The author has no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.
No writing assistance was utilised in the production of this manuscript.