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Department+of+Biological+and+Brain+Engineering

Liver Damage Mechanism of Hepatitis C Proven KAIST researchers found mechanics behind a Hepatitis C virus, thereby taking a step closer to the development of a cure for Hepatitis C. Professor Choi Chul Hui (Department of Biological and Brain Engineering) and Professor Shin Eui Chul (Graduate School of Medical Sciences) proved, for the first time in the world, the mechanism behind liver damage of a patient with Hepatitis C. It is anticipated that this discovery will allow for the development of a Hepatitis C cure that has no side effects and little Liver damage. Hepatitis C is an immune response of the body to the Hepatitis C virus and causes liver irritation. Around 170million people are infected with Hepatitis C worldwide including 1% of the Korean population. Once infected, most cases turn into chronic cases and may lead to liver cancer. However it was impossible to infect Hepatitis C within a test tube cell environment until 2005 and up till then Chimpanzees were used to study the virus which proved to be a huge barrier to research. The research team used cells infected with Hepatitis C virus and found out that the virus works by increasing the destruction of cells by the TNF-a protein responsible for the cell’s immune response. In addition the protein structure of the virus that causes this reaction was successfully found. Conventionally the Hepatitis C medication focused on the suppressing the growth of the virus and therefore had many side effects. The experimental results allow new medication aimed at suppressing the actual mechanism of liver damage to be discovered. The result was selected as the cover dissertation of the September Edition of the Hepatolog magazine.
2012.09.11 View 11473

KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea T.042-350-2114 F.042-350-2210(2220)