Core protein associates with the viral RNA to form the nucleocapsid. E1 and E2 envelope
glycoproteins form a heterodimer, which is most likely the functional unit of the viral envelope. The p7
polypeptide is a small hydrophobic protein, which forms an ion channel, and it is involved in viral
assembly and secretion. NS2 is a multifunctional protein essential for both assembly and replication by
its function as an autocatalytic cysteine protease. The N-terminal domain of NS3 is the second viral
protease that processes the viral polypeptide towards the C-terminus, whereas the C-terminal domain of
NS3 has a helicase function. NS4A is a small hydrophobic protein that serves as a cofactor for NS3
serine protease. NS4B protein induces the rearrangement of the intracellular membranes assuring the
framework for viral replication. NS5A is a multifunctional protein involved in replication and assembly.
NS5B is the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase that forms a replication complex together with NS3,
NS4A, NS4B and NS5A [9].