EMBO Member

Simon Wain-Hobson

Institut Pasteur, Paris | France

EMBO 1997

Host APOBEC3 DNA mutators and emergence of cancer.

Lab research is focused around the human APOBEC3 cluster of DNA mutators. They deaminate dC to dU. APOBEC3A is singular in that it can mutate nuclear DNA with phenomenal frequency. It creates double strand DNA breaks and is proapoptotic. They are part of a novel DNA catabolic pathway. The working hypothesis is that low levels of APOBEC3A mutation give rise to hyperplasia and ultimately cancerous cells.

Keywords: Retrovirology / viral variation & evolution / cancer / APOBEC3 / genetic editing

Subject area(s): Immunology | Microbiology, Virology & Pathogens | Molecular Medicine