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Mechanisms of APOBEC3G-catalyzed processive deamination of deoxycytidine on single-stranded DNA

Nature Structural & Molecular Biology volume 16, pages 454–455 (2009)Cite this article

A Correspondence to this article was published on 01 May 2009

To the editor:

The article by Nowarski and colleagues1, “Hypermutation by intersegmental transfer of APOBEC3G cytidine deaminase” claims first that apolipoprotein B mRNA–editing enzyme, catalytic polypeptide–like (APOBEC) 3G (A3G) deaminates deoxycytidines by a mechanism predominantly involving intersegmental transfer. A protein moving by intersegmental transfer undergoes direct transfers between segments of DNA by a 'doubly bound' intermediate state, rather than by completely releasing and reassociating with the DNA, as implied by the terms hopping or jumping2,3,4. Second, although Nowarski and colleagues1 find that A3G can act processively, they also suggest that the enzyme is not inherently processive, on the basis of the observation that it cannot deaminate consecutive cytosines within a hotspot 5′ CCC motif. This letter is intended to comment on, and hopefully clarify, several points regarding these interpretations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Biological Sciences and Chemistry, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA

    Linda Chelico, Phuong Pham & Myron F Goodman

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  1. Linda Chelico
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  2. Phuong Pham
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  3. Myron F Goodman
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Chelico, L., Pham, P. & Goodman, M. Mechanisms of APOBEC3G-catalyzed processive deamination of deoxycytidine on single-stranded DNA. Nat Struct Mol Biol 16, 454–455 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nsmb0509-454

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