METHOD FOR INDUCING HEPATITIS C VIRUS (HCV) REPLICATION IN VITRO, CELLS AND CELL LINES ENABLING ROBUST HCV REPLICATION AND KIT THEREFOR

摘要

The present invention relates to hepatitis C virus (HCV). More particularly, the invention relates to the development of a tool suitable for the search and validation of novel HCV antiviral drugs and therapies (e.g. vaccine). The invention further relates to methods for inducing HCV replication in vitro, and more particularly to a simple in vitro replication assay of HCV which enables productive and sustained infectious HCV production.