RESUMEN
Aim: to investigate whether APOBEC1 [apolipoprotein B mRNA-editing enzyme catalytic polypeptide] from small animal species like mice and rabbits may contribute to the innate immunity against retroviruses and its distribution in different animal tissues
Methods: expression of APOBEC1 proteins from small animal species in a permissive human cell line like GHOST-hi5 and examining the replication of both the wild type HIV-1 R7/3/162 and its delta vif virus. The results have shown that unlike human APOBEC1 which did not show any antiviral activity, APOBEC1 from mice and rabbits was able to suppress the replication of both the wild type HIV-1 R7/3/I62 and its delta vif virus. The expression level of APOBEC1 in different tissues of mice and rabbits was estimated by QPCR using GAPDH [glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase] as an internal control. The expression level of mouse APOBEC3 was also determined. The results have shown that APOBEC1 is ubiquitously expressed in all rabbit and mouse tissues, mainly in the spleen, thymus, liver and small intestine. This vast distribution similar to APOBEC3 gene without clear role in these cells may contribute to the resistance of mice and rabbits against exogenous retroviruses