JVI Figure table search 04
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Spenlehauer, C.
Right arrow Articles by Moog, C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Spenlehauer, C.
Right arrow Articles by Moog, C.

Journal of Virology, December 1998, p. 9855-9864, Vol. 72, No. 12
0022-538X/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Study of the V3 Loop as a Target Epitope for Antibodies Involved in the Neutralization of Primary Isolates versus T-Cell-Line-Adapted Strains of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1

Catherine Spenlehauer,1,* Sentob Saragosti,2 Hervé J. A. Fleury,3 André Kirn,1 Anne-Marie Aubertin,1 and Christiane Moog1

INSERM U74, Institut de Virologie, 67000 Strasbourg,1 Institut de Médecine et d'Épidémiologie Africaine, Hôpital Bichat, 75018 Paris,2 and Laboratoire de Virologie, Université de Bordeaux II, 33076 Bordeaux,3 France

Received 26 May 1998/Accepted 13 August 1998

Previous studies characterized the third variable (V3) loop of the envelope gp120 as the principal neutralizing determinant for laboratory T-cell-line-adapted (TCLA) strains of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). However, primary viruses isolated from infected individuals are more refractory to neutralization than TCLA strains, suggesting that qualitatively different neutralizing antibodies may be involved. In this study, we investigated whether the V3 loop constitutes a linear target epitope for antibodies neutralizing primary isolates. By using peptides representative of the V3 regions of various primary isolates, an early, relatively specific and persistent antibody response was detected in sera from HIV-infected patients. To assess the relationship between these antibodies and neutralization, the same peptides were used in competition and depletion experiments. Addition of homologous V3 peptides led to a competitive inhibition in the neutralization of the TCLA strain HIVMN/MT-4 but had no effect on the neutralization of the autologous primary isolate. Similarly, the removal of antibodies that bind to linear V3 epitopes resulted in a loss of HIVMN/MT-4 neutralization, whereas no decrease in the autologous neutralization was measured. The different roles of V3-specific antibodies according to the virus considered were thereby brought to light. This confirmed the involvement of V3 antibodies in the neutralization of a TCLA strain but emphasized a more pronounced contribution of either conformational epitopes or epitopes outside the V3 loop as targets for antibodies neutralizing primary HIV-1 isolates. This result underlines the need to focus on new vaccinal immunogens with epitopes able to induce broadly reactive and efficient antibodies that neutralize a wide range of primary HIV-1 isolates.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institut de Virologie, INSERM U74, 3 rue Koeberlé, 67000 Strasbourg, France. Phone: 0388566300. Fax: 0388566303. E-mail: c.moog{at}viro-ulp.u-strasbg.fr.

Journal of Virology, December 1998, p. 9855-9864, Vol. 72, No. 12
0022-538X/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:



Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
J. Bacteriol. Mol. Cell. Biol. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev.
Clin. Vaccine Immunol. ALL ASM JOURNALS

Copyright © 1998 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.