Human APOBEC3G Prevents Emergence of Infectious Endogenous Retrovirus in Mice

Endogenous retroviruses (ERV) are found throughout vertebrate genomes, and failure to silence their activation can have deleterious consequences on the host. Mutation and subsequent disruption of ERV loci is therefore an indispensable component of the cell-intrinsic defenses that maintain the integrity of the host genome. Abundant in vitro and in silico evidence have revealed that APOBEC3 cytidine-deaminases, including human APOBEC3G (hA3G), can potently restrict retrotransposition; yet, in vivo data demonstrating such activity is lacking, since no replication-competent human ERV have been identified. In mice deficient for Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7), transcribed ERV loci can recombine and generate infectious ERV. In this study, we show that ectopic expression of hA3G can prevent the emergence of replication-competent, infectious ERV in Tlr7^-/- mice. Mice encode one copy of Apobec3 in their genome. ERV reactivation in Tlr7^-/- mice was comparable in the presence or absence of Apobec3 In contrast, expression of a human APOBEC3G transgene abrogated emergence of infectious ERV in the Tlr7^-/- background. No ERV RNA was detected in the plasma of hA3G⁺Apobec3^-/-Tlr7^-/- mice, and infectious ERV virions could not be amplified through coculture with permissive cells. These data reveal that hA3G can potently restrict active ERV in vivo and suggest that expansion of the APOBEC3 locus in primates may have helped to provide for the continued restraint of ERV in the human genome.IMPORTANCE Although APOBEC3 proteins are known to be important antiviral restriction factors in both mice and humans, their roles in the restriction of endogenous retroviruses (ERV) have been limited to in vitro studies. Here, we report that human APOBEC3G expressed as a transgene in mice prevents the emergence of infectious ERV from endogenous loci. This study reveals that APOBEC3G can powerfully restrict active retrotransposons in vivo and demonstrates how transgenic mice can be used to investigate host mechanisms that inhibit retrotransposons and reinforce genomic integrity.