APOBEC3C S188I Polymorphism Enhances Context-Specific Editing of Hepatitis B Virus Genome.

Link to Pubmed [PMID] – 35022749

Link to DOI – 10.1093/infdis/jiac003

J Infect Dis 2022 Sep; 226(5): 891-895

Single-nucleotide polymorphism in APOBEC3C (resulting in a serine to isoleucine in position 188) is present in approximately 10% of African populations and greatly enhances restriction against human immunodeficiency virus-1 and simian immunodeficiency virus by improving dimerization and DNA processivity of the enzyme. In this study, we demonstrated in culture and in infected patients that hepatitis B virus (HBV) could be edited by APOBEC3CS188I. Using next-generation sequencing, we demonstrated that APOBEC3CS188I led to enhanced editing activity in 5’TpCpA→5’TpTpA context. This constitutes a new hallmark of this enzyme, which could be used to determine its impact on HBV or nuclear DNA.