De novo priming activity of hepatitis C virus replicase
AssigneeSchering Corporation
InventorsWeidong Zhong, Zhi Hong, Annette Schettino Uss, Johnson Y. N. Lau
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Abstract
The present invention relates to identification of a novel, de novo priming activity of hepatitis C virus replicase. This activity can be used to screen for anti-HCV replicase compounds, or to characterize the biological relevance of lead compounds that have already been identified.
Claims20
An assay system for hepatitis C virus (HCV) primer independent replicase activity, which assay system comprises an RNA template which is modified to prevent copy-back priming, an enzymatically active amount of HCV non-structural protein 5B (NS5B), ATP, GTP, CTP, and UTP nucleotide triphosphate (NTP) bases, wherein one of the NTP bases is radiolabeled, and an assay buffer that supports replication activity of NS5B.
A method for detecting primer independent hepatitis C virus (HCV) replicase activity, which method comprises detecting the presence of a nucleic acid synthesized by an HCV non-structural protein 5B (NS5B) on an RNA template that is incapable of forming a copy-back structure in the presence of ATP, GTP, CTP, and UTP nucleotide triphosphate (NTP) bases, wherein one of the NTP bases is radiolabeled, and an assay buffer that supports replication activity of NS5B.
A composition comprising an HCV NS5B protein and an RNA template which is incapable of forming a copy-back structure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.