HCV NS3/4A protease, recombinant 5 µg

NS3 protease of hepatitis C virus (HCV), located on the N-terminal domain of HCV NS3, is responsible for the cleavage at the NS3/NS4A, NS4A/NS4B, NS4B/NS5A, and NS5A/NS5B sites of the nonstructural protein. The HCV NS3 is a chymotrypsin-like serine protease. It requires a cofactor, a 54 amino acid NS4 protein, to reach its optimal activity. The X-ray crystal structure studies show that NS3 forms a tight non-covalent complex with NS4. The NS3/4A protease is essential for viral replication and the formation of infectious viral particles, and thus has been considered as one of the most attractive targets for anti-HCV therapy.