Bistability in virus–host interaction networks underlies the success of hepatitis C treatments

Abstract

The treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is undergoing a paradigm shift with current therapies curing nearly all the patients treated. Significant efforts are now focused on identifying optimal drug combinations to minimize treatment durations, costs, and side effects. Mathematical models of HCV kinetics have provided critical insights into the within-host dynamics of HCV infection and guided treatments. Recent multiscale models have integrated underlying molecular, cellular and population level phenomena and identified emergent, systems-level properties of the virus–host interaction networks that define HCV infection and treatment outcomes, thus presenting quantitative frameworks for rational treatment optimization. In this chapter, we review the advances in our conceptual understanding of HCV pathogenesis and treatment response due to the multiscale models and the new avenues they present for optimizing HCV therapies.