Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a positive strand RNA virus forming the genus Hepacivirus in the Flaviviridae family. Replication of HCV starts with the virus binding to hepatocytes, which are the primary, if not exclusive host cells. HCV entry is a multi-step and slow process (Panel 1). Interactions between HCV E1–E2 envelope glycoproteins and glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) contribute to primary binding of the virus particles to host cells. Owing to the association of HCV with (very) low-density-lipoproteins [(V)LDL] [1], the LDL receptor (LDLr) has also been proposed as a capture molecule.
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Bartenschlager et al. (2010) studied this question.
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