UBC researchers identify potential new therapy approach for hepatitis C

As HCV infects a person, it needs fat droplets in the liver to form new virus particles," says François Jean, Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and Scientific Director of the Facility for Infectious Disease and Epidemic Research (FINDER) at UBC. "In the process, it causes fat to accumulate in the liver and ultimately leads to chronic dysfunction of the organ."Jean and his team developed an inhibitor that decreases the size of host fat droplets in liver cells and stops HCV from "taking residence," multiplying and infecting other cells.