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Journal of Virology, June 2007, p. 6019-6031, Vol. 81, No. 11
0022-538X/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.02544-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Conformation-Specific Antibodies Targeting the Trimer-of-Hairpins Motif of the Human T-Cell Leukemia Virus Type 1 Transmembrane Glycoprotein Recognize the Viral Envelope but Fail To Neutralize Viral Entry

Antonis Mirsaliotis,^1, Kulpash Nurkiyanova,^1, Daniel Lamb,¹ Jenny M. Woof,² and David W. Brighty^1*

Biomedical Research Centre,¹ Division of Pathology and Neuroscience, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 9SY, Scotland, United Kingdom²

Received 17 November 2006/ Accepted 12 March 2007

Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) entry into cells is dependent upon the viral envelope glycoprotein-catalyzed fusion of the viral and cellular membranes. Following receptor activation of the envelope, the transmembrane glycoprotein (TM) is thought to undergo a series of fusogenic conformational transitions through a rod-like prehairpin intermediate to a compact trimer-of-hairpins structure. Importantly, synthetic peptides that interfere with the conformational changes of TM are potent inhibitors of membrane fusion and HTLV-1 entry, suggesting that TM is a valid target for antiviral therapy. To assess the utility of TM as a vaccine target and to explore further the function of TM in HTLV-1 pathogenesis, we have begun to examine the immunological properties of TM. Here we demonstrate that a recombinant trimer-of-hairpins form of the TM ectodomain is strongly immunogenic. Monoclonal antibodies raised against the TM immunogen specifically bind to trimeric forms of TM, including structures thought to be important for membrane fusion. Importantly, these antibodies recognize the envelope on virally infected cells but, surprisingly, fail to neutralize envelope-mediated membrane fusion or infection by pseudotyped viral particles. Our data imply that, even in the absence of overt membrane fusion, there are multiple forms of TM on virally infected cells and that some of these display fusion-associated structures. Finally, we demonstrate that many of the antibodies possess the ability to recruit complement to TM, suggesting that envelope-derived immunogens capable of eliciting a combination of neutralizing and complement-fixing antibodies would be of value as subunit vaccines for intervention in HTLV infections.

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* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Biomedical Research Centre, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 9SY, Scotland, United Kingdom. Phone: 44 1382 660111, ext. 33513. Fax: 44 1382 669993. E-mail: brighty{at}cancer.org.uk

Published ahead of print on 21 March 2007.

These authors contributed equally to this work.

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Journal of Virology, June 2007, p. 6019-6031, Vol. 81, No. 11
0022-538X/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.02544-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Mirsaliotis, A., Nurkiyanova, K., Lamb, D., Kuo, C.-W. S., Brighty, D. W. (2007). Resistance to Neutralization by Antibodies Targeting the Coiled Coil of Fusion-active Envelope Is a Common Feature of Retroviruses. J. Biol. Chem. 282: 36724-36735 [Abstract] [Full Text]