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Journal of Virology, August 2001, p. 7785-7788, Vol. 75, No. 16
Department of Pathology, New York University
School of Medicine, New York, New York 10016,1
and Research Center for AIDS and HIV Infection, V.A.
Medical Center, New York, New York 100102
Received 9 April 2001/Accepted 24 May 2001
We have used a virus-binding assay to examine conformational
changes that occur when soluble CD4 (sCD4) binds to the surface of
intact, native, primary human immunodeficiency virus type 1 virions.
The isolates examined belong to seven genetic clades (A to H) and are
representative of syncytium-inducing and non-syncytium-inducing phenotypes. Conformational changes in epitopes in the C2, V2, V3, C5,
and CD4 binding domain (CD4bd) of gp120 and the cluster I and II
regions of gp41 of these viruses were examined using human monoclonal
antibodies that are directed at these regions. The studies revealed
that sCD4 binding causes a marked increase in exposure of epitopes in
the V3 loop, irrespective of the clade or the phenotype of the virus.
Sporadic increases in exposure were observed in some epitopes in the V2
region, while no changes were observed in the C2, C5, or CD4bd of gp120
or the cluster I and II regions of gp41.
The human immunodeficiency virus
(HIV) envelope glycoprotein is produced as a gp160 precursor that
is proteolytically cleaved into a mature noncovalent multimeric complex
forming gp120 and gp41 subunits (2, 10). Several antigenic
epitopes have been identified within regions of the gp120 and gp41
subunit proteins. One region that has received substantial attention is
the V3 loop. The V3 loop of gp120 is an immunodominant region
(27), constitutes a target for neutralizing antibodies
(18), is implicated in syncytium induction in MT2 cells
(4, 9, 21, 25), and contains determinants recognized by
the viral coreceptors CXCR4 and CCR5 (1, 5).
It is known that in the course of HIV type 1 (HIV-1) infection, the
viral CD4 binding domain (CD4bd) located in the gp120 envelope
glycoprotein binds to CD4, which leads to conformational changes in
other regions of gp120 and subsequently to coreceptor binding (8,
11, 24, 26). Epitopes that become exposed on gp120 as a result
of binding to CD4 could serve as targets for antibodies that might
prevent infectivity by the virus. Indeed, studies of cells infected
with laboratory-adapted strains of HIV-1 and cells expressing different
forms of recombinant gp120 have demonstrated that soluble CD4 (sCD4)
binding causes conformational changes leading to exposure of epitopes
in the V3 and V2 regions (12, 17, 19, 20, 22, 23).
However, studies that have examined the exposure of antigenic epitopes
on primary, intact, native virions upon binding to sCD4 are lacking.
Identification of epitopes exposed on primary isolates after binding to
CD4 could improve our understanding for designing a potent HIV-1
vaccine and new therapeutic strategies.
In a previous study, we examined the antigenic landscape of intact,
native HIV-1 isolates using monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) directed at
epitopes on the viral envelope (14). We observed that
epitopes in the V3 and C5 regions of gp120 and in cluster I of gp41 are
well exposed on intact virions compared to epitopes in the V2, C2, and
CD4bd of gp120 and in cluster II of gp41. In the present study, we
addressed for the first time the issue which epitopes become exposed
when primary, intact, native HIV-1 virions bind to sCD4. To address
this question, eight HIV-1 group M isolates belonging to seven clades,
A (92RW021), B (MNp and JR-FL), C (ZB18), D (MAL), F (CA20), G (VI526),
and H (CA13), were preincubated with sCD4 and tested for their
abilities to bind to MAbs directed at epitopes in the gp120 and gp41
regions. The viruses were selected to include those that use CXCR4
(MNp, MAL, VI526, and CA13) and CCR5 (92RW021, JR-FL, ZB18, and CA20).
These viruses were passaged only in human peripheral blood mononuclear
cells (PBMCs), except for MAL, which had been passaged in a transformed
cell line (H9 cells) before subsequently being carried in human PBMCs.
Virus stocks were produced by infecting 3-day
phytohemagglutinin-stimulated HIV-negative donor PBMCs with 1 ml of a
p24-positive culture supernatant (15, 16). The p24
concentration in each virus stock was quantitated using a noncommercial
p24 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (13).
Twenty-two MAbs were used to capture viruses that had been preincubated
with or without sCD4. These MAbs included seven anti-V3 (447-52D,
908-D, 257-2D, 412-D, 1006-15D, 694/98-D, and 537-D), three anti-V2
(697-D, 830-A, and 1393A), two anti-C2 (1006-30D, and 847-D), three
anti-C5 (670-D, 1331A, and 989-D), two anti-CD4bd (448-D and IgG1B12),
two anti-gp41 cluster I (246-D and 50-69), and three anti-gp41 cluster
II (98-6, 167-D, and 2F5) antibodies. These MAbs have been extensively
described elsewhere (7, 14). Human MAb 1418 to parvovirus
B19 (6) and 246-D (anti-HIV-1 gp41) were used as negative
and positive controls, respectively. Soluble CD4 was purchased from
Life Science Products (Boston, Mass.). To determine the effect of sCD4
on epitope exposure, 100 µl of HIV-1 culture supernatant diluted to
contain 100 ng of p24/ml was preincubated with or without sCD4 (100 µl at 5 µg/ml) for 1 h at 37°C before the addition and
further incubation in microtiter wells coated as previously described
with MAbs (100 µl at 10 µg/ml) for 1 h at 37°C (13,
14). Unbound virus was washed away with RPMI 1640, and bound
virus was lysed with 250 µl of 1% Triton X-100. p24 was assayed
using a noncommercial ELISA as previously described (3).
All experiments were performed in duplicate. The cutoff value was
determined by calculating the average of the negative control for all
eight isolates plus 3 standard deviations. The p24 cutoff value was 23 pg/ml. Thus, only readings of >23 pg/ml were considered positive.
MAbs directed at seven envelope regions (V2, C2, V3, C5, and CD4bd of
gp120 and cluster I and II of gp41) were used to identify epitopes that
become exposed when gp120 on intact, native virions bind to sCD4. Of
the seven regions studied, only epitopes in the V3 loop displayed
increased exposure when sCD4 bound to seven of the eight intact, native
virions examined (Fig. 1). This was revealed by a 2- to 22-fold increase in binding of anti-V3 MAbs.
0022-538X/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JVI.75.16.7785-7788.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Effect of Soluble CD4 on Exposure of Epitopes on Primary,
Intact, Native Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Virions of
Different Genetic Clades
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FIG. 1.
Effect of sCD4 on exposure of epitopes in the V3 region
of primary, intact, native HIV-1 virions. Results are expressed as the
value of p24 capture in picograms per milliliter when virus was
preincubated with (
) or without (
) sCD4. Values of >23 pg of
p24/ml were considered positive. Values of >500 pg of p24/ml are shown
as 500 pg/ml.
One isolate, CA13, bound poorly to five of seven anti-V3 MAbs in both the presence and absence of sCD4 but did display increases of 8- and 30-fold in binding with MAbs 447-52D and 1006-15D, respectively, in the presence of sCD4 (Fig. 1a and d). Viruses RW92021, ZB18, CA20, and VI526 bound poorly to the anti-V3 MAbs in the absence of sCD4, but in the presence of sCD4 79% of these virus-anti-V3 MAb combinations showed increased binding. While viruses JR-FL, MNp, and MAL bound to most of the anti-V3 MAbs in the absence of sCD4, their binding was significantly increased in 86% of the virus-MAb combinations tested in the presence of sCD4. In sum, 44 of 56 virus-MAb combinations showed substantially increased binding to anti-V3 MAbs in the presence of sCD4.
Conversely, while one MAb, 537-D, showed only small increases in binding to virions after preincubation with sCD4, all other anti-V3 MAbs displayed increased binding to the majority of sCD4-treated virions.
Because the V3 loop has been implicated in the induction of syncytium
formation and coreceptor usage, we analyzed whether there are any
differences in the exposure of V3 epitopes between non-syncytium-inducing (NSI) and syncytium-inducing (SI) viruses, which
are CCR5-tropic and CCR4-tropic, respectively. The results (Fig.
2) clearly demonstrate that a similar
increase in exposure of V3 loop epitopes was observed for both
categories of viruses when preincubated with sCD4.
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Overall, no increase in exposure was observed with epitopes in the remaining regions of the viral envelope examined (data not shown). However, sporadic increases in binding were observed using anti-V2 MAbs 697-D and 830-A. For example, MAb 697-D showed a 7-fold and 5-fold increase in binding with JR-FL and VI526, respectively, when virus was preincubated with sCD4. MAb 830-A also showed a 5-fold increase in binding with VI526.
These results clearly demonstrate that, upon preincubation of virus with sCD4, conformational changes occur mainly in the V3 loop. Though some epitopes in the gp41 cluster I and C5 region are well exposed on the intact, native virions prior to incubation with sCD4 (13, 14), these epitopes are not better exposed upon preincubation with sCD4 (data not shown). The fact that conformational changes occur mainly in the V3 loop region leading to enhanced exposure of epitopes when virus binds to sCD4 supports the critical biological role of the V3 region in the infectious process of the virus.
The results of this study suggest that conformational changes in regions of the envelope other than the V3 may not be of biologic relevance at the initial step after the virus binds to sCD4. However, conformational changes in other envelope regions may occur when the virus binds to its coreceptors. Further studies are needed to determine other epitopes that may become exposed on the viral envelope after binding to coreceptors. Such epitopes could serve as potential targets for antiviral agents that prevent entry of the virus into host cells, thereby preventing infectivity.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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This study was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (AI 44302, AI 47053, and TW 01254).
We thank John Sullivan for the primary HIV-1 isolate (MNp) and Guido van der Groen for the primary isolates CA20, CA13, and VI526. The MAbs were provided through the support of the New York University Center for AIDS Research Immunology Core (AI 27742), with the exception of IgG1b2 and 2F5, which were obtained from Denis Burton and the Medical Research Council Reagent Program, respectively.
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FOOTNOTES |
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* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Dept. of Pathology, New York University School of Medicine, c/o V.A. Medical Center, 423 E. 23rd St., Room 18124N, New York, NY 10010. Phone: (212) 263-6769. Fax: (212) 951-6321. E-mail: phillipe.nyambi{at}med.nyu.edu.
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