title: Evolution of HIV-1 isolates that use a novel Vif-independent mechanism to resist restriction by human APOBEC3G.
abstract: The human APOBEC3G protein restricts the replication of Vif-deficient HIV-1 by deaminating nascent viral cDNA cytosines to uracils, leading to viral genomic strand G-to-A hypermutations. However, the HIV-1 Vif protein triggers APOBEC3G degradation, which helps to explain why this innate defense does not protect patients. The APOBEC3G-Vif interaction is a promising therapeutic target, but the benefit of the enabling of HIV-1 restriction in patients is unlikely to be known until Vif antagonists are developed. As a necessary prelude to such studies, cell-based HIV-1 evolution experiments were done to find out whether APOBEC3G can provide a long-term block to Vif-deficient virus replication and, if so, whether HIV-1 variants that resist restriction would emerge. APOBEC3G-expressing T cells were infected with Vif-deficient HIV-1. Virus infectivity was suppressed in 45/48 cultures for more than five weeks, but replication was eventually detected in three cultures. Virus-growth characteristics and sequencing demonstrated that these isolates were still Vif-deficient and that in fact, these viruses had acquired a promoter mutation and a Vpr null mutation. Resistance occurred by a novel tolerance mechanism in which the resistant viruses packaged less APOBEC3G and accumulated fewer hypermutations. These data support the development of antiretrovirals that antagonize Vif and thereby enable endogenous APOBEC3G to suppress HIV-1 replication.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics, Institute for Molecular Virology, Beckman Center for Genome Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA.
authors.forename: Guylaine
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Haché
authors.forename: Keisuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shindo
authors.forename: John S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Albin
authors.forename: Reuben S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Harris
mesh_terms: D000071480:APOBEC-3G Deaminase; D005075:Biological Evolution; D003564:Cytidine Deaminase / Q000378:metabolism*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000502:physiology*; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000502:physiology; D054320:vif Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D054320:vif Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus; C514847:vif protein, Human immunodeficiency virus 1; D000071480:APOBEC-3G Deaminase; C464924:APOBEC3G protein, human; D003564:Cytidine Deaminase