Translational initiation of hepatitis C virus (HCV) genome RNA occurs via its highly structured 5 noncoding region called the internal ribosome entry site (IRES).Recent studies indicate that HCV IRES and 40 S ribosomal subunit form a stable binary complex that is believed to be important for the subsequent assembly of the 48 S initiation complex. Ribosomal protein (rp) S9 has been suggested as the prime candidate protein for binding of the HCV IRES to the 40 S subunit. RpS9 has a molecular mass of ϳ25 kDa in UV cross-linking experiments. In the present study, we examined the ϳ25-kDa proteins of the 40 S ribosome that form complexes with the HCV IRES upon UV cross-linking. Immunoprecipitation with specific antibodies against two 25-kDa 40 S proteins, rpS5 and rpS9, clearly identified rpS5 as the protein bound to the IRES. Thus, our results support rpS5 as the critical element in positioning the HCV RNA on the 40 S ribosomal subunit during translation initiation.Translational initiation of most eukaryotic messenger RNAs is mediated by the binding of elongation initiation factor eIF-4 to the modified nucleotide cap on the 5Ј end of the mRNA and the binding of the 40 S ribosomal subunit and other initiation factors (1). However, in hepatitis C virus (HCV) 1 as well as in members of the picornavirus family, the positive-stranded RNA genome is not capped. In these viral genomes, the 5Ј noncoding region (NCR) contains an internal ribosomal entry site (IRES) (2, 3). Trans-acting cellular proteins regulate viral protein synthesis by binding to multiple sites within the IRES (2). For example, a polypyrimidine tract-binding protein (PTB) interacts with several sites in the IRES elements of picornaviruses (e.g. poliovirus (PV), encephalomyocarditis virus, foot-andmouth disease virus, and human rhinovirus) (4 -7). A 52-kDa nuclear factor, La protein, appears to be essential for PV translation initiation, because its addition to La-deficient rabbit reticulocyte lysates stimulates and corrects PV translation (8). In addition to these two proteins, other cellular factors (e.g. the 97-kDa protein and poly(rC)-binding protein-2) are likely to stimulate translation initiation directed by the picornavirus IRES (9, 10).Identification and characterization of IRES-binding proteins are important to the understanding of the mechanisms of internal initiation and, ultimately, to the development of novel therapies for HCV. The binding PTB and La are required for translation by HCV IRES (11, 12). However, Kaminski et al. (13) reported that recombinant PTB did not stimulate HCV IRES function, suggesting that PTB may not be necessary during HCV translation initiation under certain experimental conditions. Despite a considerably lower level of La protein in rabbit reticulocyte lysate, HCV IRES promotes efficient translation activity (14 -16). This clearly differs from the case of translation initiation on the PV genome. Thus, general models proposed for the process of 40 S ribosome entry to IRES elements on the picornavirus genome do not s...