Interaction of hepatitis C virus proteins with host cell membranes and lipids.

For replication, viruses depend on specific components and energy supplies from the host cell. The main steps in the lifecycle of positive-strand RNA viruses depend on cellular membranes. Interest is increasing in studying the interactions between host cell membranes and viral proteins to understand how such viruses replicate their genome and produce infectious particles. These studies should also lead to a better knowledge of the different mechanisms underlying membrane-protein associations. The various molecular interactions of hepatitis C virus proteins with the membranes and lipids of the infected cell highlight how a virus can exploit the diversity of interactions that occur between proteins and membranes or lipid structures.