Link to Pubmed [PMID] – 14557052
Trends Mol Med 2003 Oct;9(10):409-13
A flurry of new papers has shown that HIV reverse transcription is vulnerable to G–>A hypermutation. Apparently, cytidine bases in nascent DNA synthesis are lethally edited by the host cell molecule apolipoprotein B editing complex protein (APOBEC) 3G. This death mechanism is circumvented by the HIV viral infectivity factor protein, which prevents APOBEC3G from entering the virion.