HyperPack: A software package for the study of levels, contexts, and patterns of APOBEC-mediated hypermutation in HIV

Gustavo H. Kijak*, Mario Janini, Sodsai Tovanabutra, Eric E. Sanders-Buell, Debora L. Birx, Merlin L. Robb, Nelson L. Michael, Francine E. McCutchan

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

G-to-A hypermutation, a massive substitution of G for A, was first observed in HIV genomes 15 years ago. Initially ascribed to fluctuating nucleoutide pools or PCR errors, it has now been recognized as the result of an important host-defense mechanism mediated by APOBECs, a family of sequence-specific cytidine deaminases. Levels of hypermutation vary, and APOBECs have different preferences for the sequence contest of cytidines targeted for deamination; analysis of hypermutation provides important information about the host-virus interaction during viral replication. Here we present HyperPack, a software package to support systematic characterization of hypermutated sequences. Users can define the context of substitution for independent study of the effects of different APOBECs. The SubstrateScan and HyperScan modules are overlapping sliding-window strategies to analyze the distribution of targeted motifs and their substitution levels, respectively, across the viral genome. HyperPack is a platform-flexible, Java stand-alone application available through http://www.hivresearch.org/hyperpack/.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)554-557
Number of pages4
JournalAIDS Research and Human Retroviruses
Volume23
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2007
Externally publishedYes

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