Mouse APOBEC3 interferes with autocatalytic cleavage of murine leukemia virus Pr180gag-pol precursor and inhibits Pr65gag processing

PLoS Pathog. 2019 Dec 12;15(12):e1008173. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1008173. eCollection 2019 Dec.

Abstract

Mouse APOBEC3 (mA3) inhibits murine leukemia virus (MuLV) replication by a deamination-independent mechanism in which the reverse transcription is considered the main target process. However, other steps in virus replication that can be targeted by mA3 have not been examined. We have investigated the possible effect of mA3 on MuLV protease-mediated processes and found that mA3 binds both mature viral protease and Pr180gag-pol precursor polyprotein. Using replication-competent MuLVs, we also show that mA3 inhibits the processing of Pr65 Gag precursor. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the autoprocessing of Pr180gag-pol is impeded by mA3, resulting in reduced production of mature viral protease. This reduction appears to link with the above inefficient Pr65gag processing in the presence of mA3. Two major isoforms of mA3, exon 5-containing and -lacking ones, equally exhibit this antiviral activity. Importantly, physiologically expressed levels of mA3 impedes both Pr180gag-pol autocatalysis and Pr65gag processing. This blockade is independent of the deaminase activity and requires the C-terminal region of mA3. These results suggest that the above impairment of Pr180gag-pol autoprocessing may significantly contribute to the deaminase-independent antiretroviral activity exerted by mA3.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cytidine Deaminase / metabolism*
  • Fusion Proteins, gag-pol / metabolism*
  • Gene Products, gag / metabolism
  • Leukemia Virus, Murine / metabolism*
  • Leukemia, Experimental / metabolism
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Retroviridae Infections / metabolism*
  • Tumor Virus Infections / metabolism
  • Virus Replication / physiology*

Substances

  • Fusion Proteins, gag-pol
  • Gene Products, gag
  • Apobec3 protein, mouse
  • Cytidine Deaminase

Grants and funding

This work was supported by Japan Society for the Promotion of Sciences (JSPS: https://www.jsps.go.jp) Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI) numbers 15H01268 (MM), 16H05199 (MM), and 16K08821 (YH). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.