Different antiviral activities of natural APOBEC3C, APOBEC3G, and APOBEC3H variants against hepatitis B virus

• Published in: Biochemical and biophysical research communications Vol. 518; no. 1; pp. 26 - 31
• Main Authors: Kanagaraj, Arun, Sakamoto, Naoya, Que, Lusheng, Li, Yingfang, Mohiuddin, Md, Koura, Miki, Wakae, Kousho, Kurachi, Makoto, Muramatsu, Masamichi, Kitamura, Kouichi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 08.10.2019
• Subjects: Antiviral protein; APOBEC; Cytidine deaminase; Hepatitis B virus; Antiviral protein; rcDNA; pgRNA; APOBEC; 3D-PCR; Hepatitis B virus; HBV; Cytidine deaminase
• ISSN: 0006-291X; 1090-2104
• DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2019.08.003

Some APOBEC3 family members have antiviral activity against retroviruses and DNA viruses. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a DNA virus that is the major causative factor of severe liver diseases such as cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. To determine whether APOBEC3 variants in humans have different anti-HBV activities, we evaluated natural variants of APOBEC3C, APOBEC3G, and APOBEC3H using an HBV-replicating cell culture model. Our data demonstrate that the APOBEC3C variant S188I had increased restriction activity and hypermutation frequency against HBV DNA. In contrast, the APOBEC3G variant H186R did not alter the anti-HBV and hypermutation activities. Among APOBEC3H polymorphisms (hap I-VII) and splicing variants (SV-200, SV-183, SV-182, and SV-154), hap II SV-183 showed the strongest restriction activity. These data suggest that the genetic variations in APOBEC3 genes may affect the efficiency of HBV elimination in humans. •HBV restriction and hypermutation activities of APOBEC3 variants were compared.•APOBEC3C I188 had higher HBV restriction and hypermutation activities than common S188.•No difference between APOBEC3G H186 and R186 variants was observed.•APOBEC3H hap II SV-183 showed the highest HBV restriction activity among seven polymorphisms and four splicing variants.