NS5B

Nonstructural protein 5B (NS5B) is an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) that plays a critical role in HCV replication. The function of this enzyme is to catalyze the polymerization of ribonucleoside triphosphates (rNTP) during viral RNA replication. There are two main subclasses of NS5B polymerase inhibitors: (1) nucleotide analogues that mimic the natural substrate and induce chain termination when incorporated into the new RNA and (2) non-nucleotide inhibitors that bind to the allosteric sites on the enzyme and impair its function.