DNA dC->dU-editing enzyme APOBEC-3C (APOBEC3C)

DNA deaminase (cytidine deaminase) that functions as an inhibitor of retrovirus replication and retrotransposon freedom via deaminase-dependent and -independent mechanisms. Following the penetration of retroviral nucleocapsids into target cells of infection 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 following plus-strand viral DNA.

The resultant detrimental levels of mutations from the proviral genome, together with a deamination- independent mechanism which operates prior to the proviral integration, together exert efficient antiretroviral effects in infected target cells. Selectively targets single-stranded DNA and doesn't deaminate double-stranded DNA or single-or double- stranded RNA.