Virologie
MENUThe F protein of the hepatitis C virus: a new exemple of frameshift Volume 8, issue 3, mai-juin 2004
Figures
- Key words: hepatitis C, F protein, frameshift
- Page(s) : 215-23
- Published in: 2004
Hepatitis C infection is highly prevalent worldwide, affecting 3 % of the human population. Hepatitis C virus (HCV), its causative agent, is a single‐stranded RNA virus of positive polarity with a single long open reading frame. The HCV genome encodes a single polyprotein of 3000 amino acids which is cleaved into 10 proteins by host and viral proteases. Though the majority of the proteins was rapidly identified, a novel protein has recently been discovered. In fact, the presence of a 16 kDa protein was shown in the 90s and assimilated to a truncated form of the capsid protein. Recently, this 16 kDa protein has been characterized as a new HCV protein, named F protein for « frameshift ». This protein derives from a + 1 frameshift in the amino‐terminal region of the sequence encoding the core protein. This paper reviews the data obtained until now on this protein since his discovery in 2001.