FIGURE 1.
The hepatitis C virus IRES. (A) Schematic of the secondary structure of the IRES. The three-way helical junction studied here is circled. (B) The local sequence around the three-way junction containing helix IIId. (C) The sequence of the three-way junction in the form studied here. The junction comprises three strands (c, d, and e) and the arms are labeled C, D, and E as shown. The loop and non-Watson–Crick pairs have been removed from helix IIId to create a simple helix D for the majority of this study. (D) A form of branch migration creates three possible secondary structures at the junction.
