Structure and real-time monitoring of the enzymatic reaction of APOBEC3G which is involved in anti-HIV activity

Human apolipoprotein B mRNA-editing enzyme catalytic polypeptide-like 3G (APOBEC3G) is known to play a role in intrinsic cellular immunity against human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). The antiretroviral activity of APOBEC3G is associated with hypermutation of viral DNA through cytidine deamination. APOBEC3G contains two cytidine deaminase domains that are characterized by a highly conserved zinc-coordinating motif. It is known that only the C-terminal domain of APOBEC3G (c-APOBEC3G) is involved in the catalytic activity. Here, we present the solution structure and the interaction with single-stranded DNA of c-APOBEC3G. Furthermore, we have succeeded for the first time in monitoring the deamination reaction of c-APOBEC3G in real-time using NMR signals. The monitoring has demonstrated that the deamination reaction occurs in a strict 3'-->5'