Development of a new anti-HCV drug

Required characters of a new anti-HCV drug

• Direct Acting Antivirals (DAAs) targeting NS5A.
• Effective on various genotypes of HCV.
• Effective on mutant HCVs resistiant to currently available anti-HCV drugs.
• Effective in combination with anti-HCV drugs targeting NS3 proteinase and/or NS5B RNA polymerase.

The role of HCV NS5A in virus replication and rearranging MAM

The NS5A of HCV plays a key role in HCV replication by inducing rearrangement of intracellular membrane into double membrane vesicles (DMVs) where HCV replication complex resides. The autophagy pathway initiating around MAM is known to involve in HCV replication complex formation. We are trying to reveal the molecular basis of the induction of membrane rearrangement by HCV NS5A. Through this effort we hope to understand the mechanism of HCV replication complex formation and the mode of action of anti-HCV drugs targeting NS5A as well as the mechanism of initiation of autophagy process.

Translation initiation mechanism

Translation Initiation mediated by mRNA looping.
Recently we published a series of papers suggesting that translation of eukaryotic mRNAs occur by ‘RNA looping’ rather than by ‘40S ribosome scanning’ which is the most popular hypothesis currently. We are trying to probe the RNA looping hypothesis using various methods including visualization of translation process at the single molecule level.

Aptamer Technology

Using advanced aptamer technology using modified nucleoside, we are developing rapid and accurate diagnosis systems detecting influenza viruses