Small antiviral peptides against hepatitis C virus

摘要

Disclosed herein is a small 7 amino-acid peptide, corresponding to the C terminus of RRM2 of the human La protein that binds to the IRES element of hepatitis C virus RNA and its derivatives. This disclosure demonstrates that this 7-mer interacts with the HCV IRES element both in vitro and in vivo and can compete against cellular La protein in binding to the HCV RNA. It is also shown here that this 7-mer peptide is able to inhibit HCV-IRES mediated translation in vivo which, in turn, leads to decreased viral replication.