HCV NS3 Helicase

Non-structural protein NS3 of hepatitis c virus (HCV) is the most important non-structural protein encoded by the HCV genome, which contains 631 amino acids. NS3 N-terminal 1/3 has serine protease activity and is responsible for Ns3/Ns4A/Ns4B/NS5A/NS5B locus cleavage, which plays an important role in the maturation of HCV protein, NS3 C-terminal 2/3 (181-631 amino acids) has RNA helicase and NTP enzyme activities, and NTP enzyme hydrolyzes NTP to provide energy for the RNA helicase unwinding process. RNA helicase has the same unwinding ability for RNA-RNA strands, and DNA-RNA strands. The secondary structure of HCV RNA can be opened to facilitate the replication and translation of positive and negative strand RNA, closely related to the replication and translation process of HCV, and the replication and translation process of HCV, and is a potential target for anti-HCV drug design.