title: Hypermutation by intersegmental transfer of APOBEC3G cytidine deaminase.
abstract: Deamination of cytidine residues in single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) is an important mechanism by which apolipoprotein B mRNA-editing, catalytic polypeptide-like (APOBEC) enzymes restrict endogenous and exogenous viruses. The dynamic process underlying APOBEC-induced hypermutation is not fully understood. Here we show that enzymatically active APOBEC3G can be detected in wild-type Vif(+) HIV-1 virions, albeit at low levels. In vitro studies showed that single enzyme-DNA encounters result in distributive deamination of adjacent cytidines. Nonlinear translocation of APOBEC3G, however, directed scattered deamination of numerous targets along the DNA. Increased ssDNA concentrations abolished enzyme processivity in the case of short, but not long, DNA substrates, emphasizing the key role of rapid intersegmental transfer in targeting the deaminase. Our data support a model by which APOBEC3G intersegmental transfer via monomeric binding to two ssDNA segments results in dispersed hypermutation of viral genomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and the Lautenberg Center for General and Tumor Immunology, the Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem 91120, Israel.
authors.forename: Roni
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nowarski
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Britan-Rosich
authors.forename: Tamar
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shiloach
authors.forename: Moshe
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kotler
mesh_terms: D002460:Cell Line; D003564:Cytidine Deaminase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004058:Diffusion; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D011485:Protein Binding; D021381:Protein Transport; D014771:Virion / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D003564:Cytidine Deaminase