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The tsAPOBEC3 proteins restrict HBV replication and may limit the establishment of persistent infection in tree shrews

Cellular & Molecular Immunology volume 17, pages 1107–1108 (2020)Cite this article

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Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a pathogen that infects humans and can lead to the development of liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma. Currently, however, animal models of HBV infection remain lacking. Similar to humans, tree shrews (Tupaia belangeri) can be infected with HBV1,2 and exhibit similar hepatic histopathological changes and hepatocellular carcinoma features as those found in HBV-infected humans.2,3 Sodium taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide is a functional HBV receptor that was recently identified in tree shrews.4 However, the infection rate is usually low in adult animals under natural conditions, and the virus can be eliminated spontaneously over a short period of time.1 Thus, the mechanism related to the weak HBV replication in tree shrews needs to be further explored, although host factors are hypothesized to be major factors affecting HBV infection and persistence.

Most viruses depend on host factors to complete their replication cycles, with restriction factors able to counteract viral infection at every step of replication. Apolipoprotein B mRNA-editing enzyme catalytic polypeptide-like 3 (APOBEC3) proteins are polynucleotide cytidine deaminases and are known to restrict HBV replication.5 In primary liver cultures of HBV-infected tree shrews, the HBV genome-editing profiles with G to A hypermutation are similar to those observed in humans.6 We previously annotated tree shrew genome sequences7 and identified the tree shrew (ts) APOBEC3 family,8 thus revealing the existence of APOBEC3 factors in tree shrews, as well as interactions between tsAPOBEC3 and HBV.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Animal Models and Human Disease Mechanisms of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, KIZ-CUHK Joint Laboratory of Bioresources and Molecular Research in Common Diseases, Center for Biosafety Mega-Science, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, 650223, China

    Meng-Ting Luo & Yong-Tang Zheng

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Meng-Ting Luo

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  1. Meng-Ting Luo
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Correspondence to Yong-Tang Zheng.

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Luo, MT., Zheng, YT. The tsAPOBEC3 proteins restrict HBV replication and may limit the establishment of persistent infection in tree shrews. Cell Mol Immunol 17, 1107–1108 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41423-020-0369-z

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