DNA dC->dU-editing enzyme APOBEC-3D (APOBEC3D)

DNA deaminase (cytidine deaminase) that functions as an inhibitor of retrovirus replication and retrotransposon freedom via deaminase-dependent and -independent mechanisms. Exhibits antiviral activity against vif-deficient HIV-1.

Following the penetration of retroviral nucleocapsids into target cells of disease and the initiation of reverse transcription, it can induce the conversion of cytosine to uracil in the minus-sense single-strand viral DNA, resulting in G-to-A hypermutations in the subsequent plus-strand viral DNA. The consequent detrimental levels of mutations in the proviral genome, together with a deamination- independent mechanism that works prior to the proviral integration, together exert effective antiretroviral effects in infected target cells.