Functional domains of APOBEC3G required for antiviral activity

The viral protein, Vif, is essential for the production of infectious progeny virions in natural target cells of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). Several recent reports indicate that Vif acts by antagonizing the activity of an endogenous human antiviral protein, APOBEC3G. To investigate this route to restrict HIV-1 infection, we employed mutagenesis to assess APOBEC3G function during HIV-1 infection including interaction with Vif, localization, and activity in virions. We found that APOBEC3G binds Vif in infected cells and the C'-terminal region is required for this interaction. APOBEC3G was only incorporated into virions in the absence of Vif and deletion of either the N'-terminal or C'-terminal regions of APOBEC3G abrogated virion localization. Assaying endogenous reverse transcription we found that APOBEC3G and its C'-terminal deletion mutant inhibited full-length cDNA synthesis, possibly through binding to viral RNA, a function revealed through gel-shift assays. Taken together, our studies suggest that APOBEC3G inhibits HIV-1 infection through interference with reverse transcription and that Vif counteracts APOBEC3G by impeding its entry into virions.