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Journal of Virology, June 2001, p. 5526-5540, Vol. 75, No. 12
Chiron Corporation, Emeryville, California
94608-29161; University of Massachusetts
Medical Center, Worcester, Massachusetts 016552;
Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, The Rockfeller University,
New York, New York 100163; Tulane
Regional Primate Research Center, Covington, Louisiana
704334; Panacos Pharmaceuticals,
Gaithersburg, Maryland 208775; and
Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Rockville, Maryland
208506
Received 6 February 2001/Accepted 20 March 2001
Partial deletion of the second hypervariable region from the
envelope of the primary-like SF162 virus increases the exposure of
certain neutralization epitopes and renders the virus, SF162
0022-538X/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JVI.75.12.5526-5540.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
The Ability of an Oligomeric Human Immunodeficiency
Virus Type 1 (HIV-1) Envelope Antigen To Elicit Neutralizing Antibodies
against Primary HIV-1 Isolates Is Improved following Partial Deletion
of the Second Hypervariable Region
and
V2, highly susceptible to neutralization by clade B and non-clade B human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV-positive) sera (L. Stamatatos and C. Cheng-Mayer, J. Virol. 78:7840-7845, 1998). This observation led
us to propose that the modified, SF162
V2-derived envelope may elicit
higher titers of cross-reactive neutralizing antibodies than the
unmodified SF162-derived envelope. To test this hypothesis, we
immunized rabbits and rhesus macaques with the gp140 form of these two
envelopes. In rabbits, both immunogens elicited similar titers of
binding antibodies but the modified immunogen was more effective in
eliciting neutralizing antibodies, not only against the SF162
V2 and
SF162 viruses but also against several heterologous primary HIV type 1 (HIV-1) isolates. In rhesus macaques both immunogens elicited potent
binding antibodies, but again the modified immunogen was more effective
in eliciting the generation of neutralizing antibodies against the
SF162
V2 and SF162 viruses. Antibodies capable of neutralizing
several, but not all, heterologous primary HIV-1 isolates tested were
elicited only in macaques immunized with the modified immunogen. The
efficiency of neutralization of these heterologous isolates was lower
than that recorded against the SF162 isolate. Our results strongly
suggest that although soluble oligomeric envelope subunit vaccines may
elicit neutralizing antibody responses against heterologous primary
HIV-1 isolates, these responses will not be broad and potent unless
specific modifications are introduced to increase the exposure of
conserved neutralization epitopes.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Aaron Diamond
AIDS Research Center, 455 First Ave., 7th Floor, New York, NY 10016. Phone: (212) 448-5000. Fax: (212) 725-1126. E-mail:
lstamata{at}adarc.org.
Present address: Vaccine Research Center, National Institutes of
Health, Bethesda, MD 20892.
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