Background:

HZ-1157 is a potent hepatitis C virus (HCV) inhibitor toward HCV NS3/4A protease with IC50 value of 1.0 μmol/L [1].

The NS3 protease of HCV is a prime target for the development of anti-HCV agents because it cleaves the viral polyprotein and liberates NS3, NS4A, NS4B, NS5A, and NS5B, allowing them to function normally in viral RNA replication, and it deactivates many host proteins involved in innate immunity to foster a favorable cellular environment for HCV replication. The NS3 protease is most active when complexed with its cofactor NS4A [1].

In vitro: Huh7.5.1 cell line stably transfected with HCV NS3/4A protease reporter was established to investigate the anti-HCV mechanism of HZ-1157 (0.001