Cell‐Based Hepatitis C Virus Infection Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) Assay for Antiviral Compound Screening

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) affects an estimated 3% of the population and is a leading cause of chronic liver disease worldwide. Since HCV therapeutic and preventative options are limited, the development of new HCV antivirals has become a global health care concern. This has spurred the development of cell‐based infectious HCV high‐throughput screening assays to test the ability of compounds to inhibit HCV infection. This unit describes methods that may be used to assess the in vitro efficacy of HCV antivirals using a cell‐based high‐throughput fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) HCV infection screening assay, which allows for the identification of inhibitors that target HCV at any step in the viral life cycle. Basic protocols are provided for compound screening during HCV infection and analysis of compound efficacy using an HCV FRET assay. Support protocols are provided for propagation of infectious HCV and measurement of viral infectivity. Curr. Protoc. Microbiol. 18:17.5.1‐17.5.27. © 2010 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.