APOBECs: Our fickle friends?

APOBEC cytidine deaminases are part of the innate immune system, yet multiple reports indicate that other functions of innate immunity, such as signaling through the type I IFNs and Toll-like receptors (TLRs), increase levels of the A3 enzymes [[37]-[39]]. The Bet proteins of spumaretroviruses apparently use protein-protein interactions for binding to A3G, thus preventing deaminase packaging into virions [[26]]. In summary, APOBECs induce mutations in both viral and host DNA, but it appears increasingly likely that RNA-containing viruses are mutated by cytidine deaminases. The apolipoprotein B mRNA-editing catalytic polypeptide-like (APOBEC) family specifies multiple cytidine deaminases. [Extracted from the article]