Suspène R, Raymond KA, Boutin L, Guillier S, Lemoine F, Ferraris O, Tournier JN, Iseni F, Simon-Lorière E, Vartanian JP. APOBEC3F Is a Mutational Driver of the Human Monkeypox Virus Identified in the 2022 Outbreak.
J Infect Dis 2023;
228:1421-1429. [PMID:
37224627 PMCID:
PMC11009509 DOI:
10.1093/infdis/jiad165]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2023] [Revised: 04/24/2023] [Accepted: 05/12/2023] [Indexed: 05/26/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND
On May 6, 2022, a powerful outbreak of monkeypox virus (MPXV) had been reported outside of Africa, with many continuing new cases being reported around the world. Analysis of mutations among the 2 different lineages present in the 2021 and 2022 outbreaks revealed the presence of G->A mutations occurring in the 5'GpA context, indicative of APOBEC3 cytidine deaminase activity.
METHODS
By using a sensitive polymerase chain reaction (differential DNA denaturation PCR) method allowing differential amplification of AT-rich DNA, we analyzed the level of APOBEC3-induced MPXV editing in infected cells and in patients.
RESULTS
We demonstrate that G->A hypermutated MPXV genomes can be recovered experimentally from APOBEC3 transfection followed by MPXV infection. Here, among the 7 human APOBEC3 cytidine deaminases (A3A-A3C, A3DE, A3F-A3H), only APOBEC3F was capable of extensively deaminating cytidine residues in MPXV genomes. Hyperedited genomes were also recovered in ∼42% of analyzed patients. Moreover, we demonstrate that substantial repair of these mutations occurs. Upon selection, corrected G->A mutations escaping drift loss contribute to the MPXV evolution observed in the current epidemic.
CONCLUSIONS
Stochastic or transient overexpression of the APOBEC3F gene exposes the MPXV genome to a broad spectrum of mutations that may be modeling the mutational landscape after multiple cycles of viral replication.
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