[Putative hepatitis C virus cell receptors]

Penetration of a virus into a host cell comprises the first step of the viral life cycle. Blockage of this process can stop or prevent the rise of the infection. In order to develop substances that show directed blocking activity, one should know which host cell and viral molecules are involved in the reciprocal recognition and interaction leading to the virus entry into the cell. This review is devoted to the problems of the identification of cell outer membrane molecules that participate in the hepatitis C virus binding and its transfer inside the cells. The putative role of these molecules as hepatitis C virus receptors and coreceptors in the beginning and development of the infection is discussed.