Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection causes severe liver disease and affects ca. 146 million individuals. Novel directly acting antivirals targeting HCV have revolutionized treatment. However, high costs limit access to therapy. Recently, several related drugs used in humans to treat allergies or as neuroleptics emerged as potent HCV cell entry inhibitors. Insights into their antiviral modes of action may increase opportunities for drug repurposing in hepatitis C and possibly other important human viral infections.
Keywords: cell entry; drug repurposing; fusion inhibitor; hepatitis C virus; infectious disease; ion channel inhibitors; membrane fusion.
Copyright © 2017 American Society for Microbiology.