Correlation of the kinetics of viral antigen and genomic RNA with restoration of normal cell homeostasis

The main objective of the studies within COCID Work Package 6 is to understand basic mechanisms by which viral replication machineries are removed from cells after pharmacological interruption of viral replication using functional as well as imaging techniques, including soft X-ray tomography. In this document, we highlight the progress in establishing the HCV replication models (replicons), the antiviral treatment chosen to eliminate viral structures from the host cells and the correlation between elimination of the viral replication machinery and restoration of a normal host cell homeostasis, using markers of HCV-induced stress. These data are essential to frame the experimental setup chosen for the imaging process required in subsequent stps of the project.