Repair of APOBEC3G-Mutated Retroviral DNA <i>In Vivo</i> Is Facilitated by the Host Enzyme Uracil DNA Glycosylase 2

Abstract

) gene and show that UNG removes uracils introduced by this cytidine deaminase in MLV reverse transcripts, thereby reducing G-to-A mutations in proviruses. Furthermore, our data suggest that UNG removes uracils at two stages in infection-first, in unintegrated nuclear viral reverse-transcribed DNA, resulting in its degradation; and second, in integrated proviruses, resulting in their repair. These data suggest that retroviruses damaged by host cytidine deaminases take advantage of the host DNA repair system to overcome this damage.

Topics & Concepts