The Hepatitis C Virus Replicon System and Its Role in Drug Development

Abstract

Infections with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) are an important medical problem as they can lead to chronic liver disease, including liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The HCV genome was cloned molecularly in 1989, and around 25 years later, antiviral therapy has been established that eliminates the virus in more than 95% of infected individuals. To reach this goal, several hurdles had to be overcome, a major one having been the development of robust cell culture systems that were suitable for drug development, but also to study the individual steps of the HCV replication cycle. Here we summarize the step-by-step establishment of HCV cell culture systems with a focus on the replicon system that played a major role in the development of HCV-specific direct-acting antiviral drugs.