Identification and analysis of inhibitors targeting the hepatitis C virus NS3 helicase

This chapter describes two types of FRET-based fluorescence assays that can be used to identify and analyze compounds that inhibit the helicase encoded by the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Both assays use a fluorescently labeled DNA or RNA oligonucleotide to monitor helicase-catalyzed strand separation, and they differ from other real-time helicase assays in that they do not require the presence of other nucleic acids to trap the reaction products. The first assay is a molecular beacon-based helicase assay (MBHA) that monitors helicase-catalyzed displacement of a hairpin-forming oligonucleotide with a fluorescent moiety on one end and a quencher on the other. DNA-based MBHAs have been used extensively for high-throughput screening (HTS), but RNA-based MBHAs are typically less useful because of poor signal to background ratios. In the second assay discussed, the fluorophore and quencher are split between two hairpin-forming oligonucleotides annealed in tandem to a third oligonucleotide. This split beacon helicase assay can be used for HTS with either DNA or RNA oligonucleotides. These assays should be useful to the many labs searching for HCV helicase inhibitors in order to develop new HCV therapies that are still desperately needed.