Hepatitis C E2 is a virus envelope glycoprotein which forms a heterodimer with the E1 protein. E2 inhibits human EIF2AK2/PKR activation, preventing the establishment of an antiviral state. E2 is a viral ligand for CD209/DCSIGN and CLEC4M/DC-SIGNR, which are respectively found on dendritic cells (DCs), and on liver sinusoidal endothelial cells and macrophage-like cells of lymph node sinuses.