Hepatitis C virus(HCV)is a human pathogen responsible for liver diseases including acute and chronic hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma.However,the high prevalence,the absence of antiviral drugs and vaccines for prevention and treatment are the difficult medical problems.Lacking appropriate culture method and small animal model have severely limited investigation of the HCV infection mechanism and the development of the therapeutic strategy.Recently,the in vitro culture system develops rapidly,and provides a powerful tool for HCV related research.Despite the well known toxicity of the chemical,arsenic trioxide(As2O3)is effective for treating the patients with refractory or relapsed acute promyelocytic leukemia and many other cancers.Interestingly,As2O3 shows the ability of inhibiting HCV RNA replication and infection.This review describes the different types of in vitro HCV models developed,and many studies of the potent effect of As2O3 against HCV and its associated molecular mechanisms.
