All retroviruses, including HIV-1, display species-specific patterns of infection. The impaired growth of these retroviruses in foreign and sometimes even in their natural hosts often stems from the action of potent host-encoded "viral restriction factors" that form important protective components of the innate immune system. The discovery of APOBEC3G and related cytidine deaminases as one class of host restriction factors and of the action of HIV-1 Vif as a specific APOBEC3G antagonist have stimulated intense scientific interest. This Vif-APOBEC3G axis now forms a very attractive target for development of an entirely new class of anti-HIV drugs. In this review, we summarize current understanding of the mechanism of action of the APOBEC3 family of enzymes, their intriguing regulation within cells, the impact of these enzymes on viral evolution and disease progression, and their roles in controlling not only the replication of exogenous retroviruses but also the retrotransposition of endogenous retroelements.

中文翻译：

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APOBEC3胞苷脱氨酶：一种与外源逆转录病毒和内源逆转录元素相对的先天防御网络。

所有逆转录病毒，包括HIV-1，都表现出特定物种的感染模式。这些反转录病毒在外来宿主中，有时甚至在其天然宿主中的受损生长，通常是由于宿主编码的有效“病毒限制因子”的作用所致，而后者形成了先天免疫系统的重要保护成分。作为一类宿主限制因子的APOBEC3G和相关胞苷脱氨基酶的发现以及作为一种特定APOBEC3G拮抗剂的HIV-1 Vif的作用引起了强烈的科学兴趣。现在，该Vif-APOBEC3G轴成为开发新型抗HIV药物的极具吸引力的目标。在这篇综述中，我们总结了目前对APOBEC3酶的作用机理及其在细胞内有趣的调控的理解，