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Journal of Virology, April 2007, p. 3525-3534, Vol. 81, No. 7
0022-538X/07/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JVI.02293-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Department of Virology,1 Laboratory of Neurovirology, Department of Neurology, The Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel2
Received 19 October 2006/ Accepted 19 January 2007
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Viruses in solution behave as charged colloidal masses. Their motion is controlled by diffusion (1, 32), and their attachment to cells is primarily determined by electrostatic interactions with the charged cell surface (12). It is these coupled stochastic processes of cell encounter and attachment that constitute the rate-limiting steps to infection of cells in culture (1, 20). Cell attachment progresses continuously, and thus, infection is initiated asynchronously, precluding step-by-step monitoring of viral events that precede or follow the attachment step.
The lack of synchrony has challenged attempts both to characterize the dynamics of the viral entry sequence and to determine the mechanism and precise stage of infection that is inhibited by Ab binding. While several studies have shown that specific Abs may prevent virus attachment to certain cell types (5, 43), others have demonstrated that neutralization may be effected by interference with a postattachment step of infection (28, 33, 40). Indeed, several Abs have shown the capacity to neutralize virus that has already attached to the cell surface but has not yet entered the cytoplasm (2, 23). However, the progression of postattachment neutralization and the specific stage of entry inhibited by each Ab could not be defined.
Several approaches have been employed to increase synchronicity of infection in cell cultures in order to follow early steps of the infection sequence. Most commonly, viruses are adsorbed to target cells at low temperatures (nonpermissive for entry), followed by removal of unbound virus and elevation to physiologic temperature in order to initiate entry (18, 36). However, for a large number of viruses, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the temperature-dependent step occurs at a late stage of the entry process (14, 25). The sequence of events that precedes this step therefore remains nonsynchronized. Similarly, the use of chemically triggered forms of the HIV envelope protein allows arrest only at a late stage of entry, after engagement of receptor and coreceptor (6, 11). Cell-to-cell-fusion assays are also widely used to study both viral entry and neutralization (17). However, the capacity of envelope-mediated cell-to-cell fusion to reflect the dynamics of the interaction between intact virus and cells is not clear.
To surmount limitations imposed by the diffusion-dependent cell association step, we previously described a method for magnetically controlling viral motion and cell attachment (20). Viruses are synchronously transferred to the stable cell-bound state at physiologic temperature and simultaneously initiate the infection sequence. Here, we apply this technology to monitor the Ab-virus interaction in solution and on the cell surface. By controlling cell attachment, the Ab-virus interaction in solution is quenched, allowing precise kinetic measurements of cell-free virus neutralization. By synchronously initiating infection, the progression of cell-bound virus escape from different Abs could be monitored. Using these tools, we analyze here the dynamics of Ab-mediated neutralization of HIV-1.
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Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated from buffy coats obtained from healthy blood donors. Following density gradient centrifugation using Ficollpaque Plus lymphocyte separation medium (Amersham), cells were incubated for 2 h at 37°C to remove adherent cells. Remaining cells were then stimulated with interleukin 2 (IL-2; 250 units/ml; Chiron Corp.) for 6 days prior to infection. PBMCs were maintained throughout in RPMI medium supplemented with 20% FCS, 2 mM glutamine, 10 mM HEPES (pH 7.3), and the above-mentioned antibiotics.
Antibodies. Anti-CD4-binding-site monoclonal Ab (MAb) immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1) b12 was kindly provided by D. Burton. The following Abs were obtained through the ARRRP: MAbs 2G12 and 2F5 (both contributed by H. Katinger), MAb 12G5 (contributed by J. Hoxie), and polyclonal IgG isolated from HIV-1-positive blood donors (HIVIG). Normal human serum IgG (IVIG) from HIV-1-seronegative blood donors was manufactured from pooled-source plasma (Omrix Biopharmaceuticals).
Preparation of viruses.
Recombinant HIV-1 was generated using a three-plasmid packaging system, which consisted of the pCMV
R8.2 packaging vector (31), a transfer vector, and an envelope vector. Transfer vectors included pHR'hPGK.nlsLacZ and pHR'CMV.Luc (31, 49). The HIV-1 gp160 envelope glycoprotein of the T-cell-line-adapted HIV-1IIIB strain, the dualtropic primary isolate HIV-189.6, and the R5-tropic primary HIV-1JRFL strain were expressed by the pRSV-IIIB, pRSV-89.6, and pE7-JRFL vectors, respectively.
Viral stocks were generated by transient cotransfection of 293T cells with the three plasmids, using the calcium phosphate precipitation method. Briefly, 293T cells (3.5 x 106) were seeded in 10-cm culture dishes and transfected the following day with 10 µg of pCMV
R8.2, 10 µg of pHR' transfer vector, and 2.5 µg of envelope vector. Sixteen hours posttransfection, the medium was changed to DMEM-10% FCS and 12 h later replaced with serum-free DMEM. Supernatants were collected 12 h later, cleared of cell debris by low-speed centrifugation, and passed through 0.2-µm filters (Sartorius). Preparations were subsequently loaded into dialysis tubing (molecular mass cutoff, 12 to 14 kDa) and dialyzed against HS buffer (140 mM NaCl, 10 mM HEPES, pH 7.3) for 24 h at 4°C. The infectivities of the preparations were unaltered by the dialysis procedure, as determined by dilution-based titration on HeLa-CD4 cells.
Magnetically mediated viral adsorption. Viral preparations suspended in HS buffer were supplemented with 1.5% FCS and preincubated for 2 min with magnetite nanoparticles (MNPs; 0.5 mg/ml; TransMAG-PD; Chemicell). The solution was then added dropwise to the culture medium of a confluent monolayer of target cells at a 1:13 (vol/vol) ratio. A magnetic field was applied by positioning a permanent Nd-Fe-B magnet (Magma Magnets) under the culture plate (magnetic flux density of approximately 1 T). Following incubation with cells (for 2 min, unless indicated otherwise), the magnet was removed, and cells were washed three times with culture medium and further incubated at 37°C and 5% CO2. At 12 h, cells were detached by trypsinization, reseeded at 50% confluence, and further cultured for 4 days for infectivity assays.
We note that modifications to previously reported conditions of viral preparation and MNP association were introduced to minimize the formation of biologically inactive virus-MNP aggregates (20). As a result, virus-MNP complexes retained both diffusion dependence and infective stability in the cell culture medium and could be effectively transferred from the medium to the infective-cell-bound state by application of a magnetic field at least 2 h after addition of complexes to the cells (data not shown).
Viral particle adsorption assay. Viral attachment to cells was determined by a capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for HIV-1 p24 antigen. Following adsorption of virus, cell association was examined with or without washing of the cell culture. For cultures examined with no washing step, the medium was removed by gentle decantation while maintaining the application of a magnetic field. For cultures examined after a washing step, the magnetic field was first removed, followed by three washes with culture medium. Cells were then disrupted in ice-cold lysis buffer (1% Triton X-100 in culture medium) for 15 min at 4°C and assayed with an HIV-1 p24 antigen capture assay kit (SAIC Frederick, AIDS Vaccine Program).
To examine the fraction of p24 in virus preparations that is virion incorporated, we measured the proportion of pelletable p24. HIV-1IIIBnls.ß-gal preparations were placed over a 20% sucrose cushion and centrifuged at 100,000 x g for 2 h at 4°C in a Beckman SW55Ti rotor. The amount of p24 in the pellet was then measured by ELISA and compared with that of the input virus. We found that 83% of the input p24 pelleted through the sucrose cushion, indicative of a virion-associated form.
Neutralization kinetics of cell-free HIV. HIV preparations were preincubated with Ab at 37°C for different time periods and then adsorbed to the cells magnetically or by diffusion. Preparations were added at a 1:13 (vol/vol) ratio to the cell culture medium (final Ab dilution, 1:28). After a 2-min (magnetically adsorbed) or 12-h (diffusion adsorbed) incubation period, cells were washed twice with culture medium and further incubated for infectivity assays.
Kinetics of escape of cell-bound HIV from Abs. Cell cultures were magnetically adsorbed with virus for 2 min at 37°C, washed twice with culture medium, and further incubated at 37°C. At different times postadsorption, culture medium containing Ab was added to the cells. For measurements indicating no interval prior to Ab addition, virus was magnetically adsorbed to cells overlaid with culture medium containing Ab. Cells were then further cultured for 4 days and examined for infectivity.
In kinetic measurements of HIV escape from protease-mediated inactivation, cells were treated with digestion buffer containing 2.5 mg/ml trypsin and 0.54 mM EDTA (Biological Industries). After 12 min incubation at 37°C, DMEM-10% FCS was added to halt protease activity. Parallel cultures were treated with culture medium containing 5 µg/ml MAb b12 and at 13 h postadsorption were similarly treated with trypsin-EDTA.
Infection of PBMCs. IL-2-stimulated PBMCs were seeded in 12-well culture plates coated with poly-L-lysine (Sigma) at 6 x 106 cells per well. Cells were immobilized to the well surface by centrifuging plates at 500 x g for 5 min immediately before infection. HIV-1IIIBluc preparations were preincubated with Ab for 1 h and adsorbed to the cells magnetically or by diffusion. Twelve hours later, cells were resuspended, washed once with PBMC culture medium, and further incubated for 4 days in PBMC culture medium supplemented with 250 U/ml IL-2. Cells were then washed once with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and assayed for luciferase enzyme activity.
X-Gal staining. Cultures infected with ß-galactosidase-expressing viruses were stained using the 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-ß-D-galactopyranoside (X-Gal) substrate (Inalco, Italy). Four days postinfection, cells were washed once with culture medium and then treated with fixative solution containing 2% formaldehyde, 0.2% glutaraldehyde, and 2 mM MgCl2 in PBS (pH 7.3) for 1 min at room temperature. Cultures were subsequently washed four times with PBS and treated with staining solution containing the X-Gal substrate at 0.8 µg/ml, 0.02% NP-40, and 2 mM MgCl2 in PBS. Following a 24-h incubation period at 37°C, ß-galactosidase-positive cells were counted with an inverted-light microscope. To correct for cell division, each cluster of positive cells was considered one infection event.
Luciferase assay. Infected cultures were washed once with culture medium and lysed with passive lysis buffer (Promega) for 10 min at room temperature. Preparations were then assayed for luciferase enzyme activity with a dual luciferase kit (Promega). Light emission from cell extracts was measured with a Mithras LB 940 luminometer (Berthold Technologies).
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As shown in Fig. 1, addition of virus-MNP complexes to cell cultures applied with a magnetic field resulted in rapid transfer of the entire viral inoculum (14 ng p24 input) to the cell-bound state. Viruses stably attached to the cells, independent of the cellular expression of the HIV entry receptor CD4. Importantly, we observed that after initial magnetically induced attachment, cell surface retention of HIV-MNP complexes was unaffected by continued application of the magnetic field; complexes remained stably attached to the cells and mostly resistant to subsequent washes (Fig. 1). Moreover, no increase in medium concentrations of virus above the p24 assay threshold of detection was observed for 12 h after magnetically controlled adsorption (data not shown).
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FIG. 1. HIV attachment to CD4-positive and -negative HeLa cells. HIV-1IIIBnls.ß-gal preparations (14 ng p24 per well) were adsorbed magnetically or by diffusion to wild-type or CD4-expressing HeLa cells for the indicated times at 37°C. Cell-associated virus was then quantified by ELISA for HIV-1 p24. Values represent means ± SEMs for three replicate samples.
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Given synchronized attachment, the productive adsorption step (i.e., cell attachment that results in a measured infection event) was completed within 1 min by magnetically controlled virus (Fig. 2A). By contrast, diffusion-controlled systems reached maximal productive adsorption after approximately 12 h. At the 12-h time point, we examined the medium of cultures infected with virus alone for both residual infectivity and viral particle content (by a p24 antigen assay). While only negligible infectivity was detected (less than 2%), more than 50% of the viral particles initially added were still present in the medium after 12 h (data not shown). Given a half-life of 5.5 h for virus infectivity in the culture medium (data not shown), we attribute this decrease in the infectious- to total-particle ratio to spontaneous viral decay (24). Therefore, the higher infectivities of magnetically controlled preparations (Fig. 2A) resulted from both complete and immediate transfer of viruses to the cell-bound state (Fig. 1).
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FIG. 2. Magnetically controlled infection. (A) Productive adsorption kinetics. HIV-1IIIBnls.ß-gal preparations were adsorbed to HeLa-CD4 cultures magnetically or by diffusion. At the indicated times, the infection medium was removed, cells were washed three times with culture medium and further incubated for 4 days, and infectivity was measured. Data points represent means ± SEMs for triplicate wells. (B) Infection of CD4-positive and -negative HeLa cells. HIV-1IIIBnls.ß-gal preparations were adsorbed to the cells for the indicated times. Cultures were then washed twice and further cultured for 4 days. Values represent means ± SEMs for three replicate samples. ß-Gal+, ß-galactosidase positive.
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Whereas cell attachment of magnetically adsorbed virus (measured by the p24 assay) was not affected by CD4 expression (Fig. 1), infectivity remained strictly receptor dependent and was limited to CD4-expressing cells (Fig. 2B). For viral inocula of up to 1,500 infectious units magnetically adsorbed to the CD4-negative HeLa cells, no infection events were detected (data not shown). In accordance, blockage of the coreceptor CXCR4 with the MAb 12G5 (16) reduced the infectivity of magnetically adsorbed HIV-1IIIB in a concentration-dependent manner (data not shown).
Cell attachment and infectivity of Ab-bound HIV. To determine whether HIV that is bound by Abs can be magnetically transferred to the cell-bound state and presented for infection, similar to Ab-free virus, we preincubated virus with either IVIG as a control or the neutralizing MAb b12 (8) and magnetically adsorbed preparations to cells. The MAb b12 was chosen since it recognizes the CD4-binding domain of the envelope protein and thus interferes with the first step of entry. We observed that the viral content of both preparations was efficiently transferred to the cell-bound state, irrespective of Ab (Fig. 3A). Therefore, binding of MAb b12 to HIV does not interfere with subsequent MNP association, magnetic field-mediated mobilization of complexes, or stable attachment to cells.
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FIG. 3. Magnetically controlled adsorption of Ab-bound virus. HIV-1IIIBnls.ß-gal preparations (18 ng p24 per well) were preincubated with 5 µg/ml of MAb b12 or IVIG for 1 h at 37°C and then adsorbed magnetically or by diffusion to HeLa-CD4 cultures. (A) Following a 10-min incubation period, cell-associated virus was quantified by ELISA for HIV-1 p24. (B) Following the indicated incubation times, cells were washed and further cultured for 4 days, and infectivity was determined. Values represent means ± SEMs for three replicate samples. ß-Gal+, ß-galactosidase positive.
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FIG. 4. Effect of Ab binding on infectivity of HIV adsorbed magnetically or by diffusion. (A to C) The indicated viruses expressing ß-galactosidase were preincubated with Ab (or IVIG at the corresponding concentration) for 1 h at 37°C and adsorbed to HeLa-CD4 cultures by diffusion (12 h) or magnetically (2 min). Cells were subsequently washed, further cultured for 4 days, and examined for infectivity. Values represent means ± SEMs for three or four replicate samples. The experiments described for panels A and B were performed with different source virus preparations. (D) Infection of PBMCs by HIV-1IIIBluc that was preincubated with MAb b12 or IVIG for 1 h at 37°C. Four days later, cultures were assayed for luciferase activity. Results are presented as mean relative light unit (RLU) measurements ± SEMs for three replicate samples. ß-Gal+, ß-galactosidase positive.
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FIG. 5. Kinetics of cell-free HIV-1IIIBnls.ß-gal neutralization by 5 µg/ml MAb b12 (A) and 2.5 mg/ml HIVIG (B). In both experiments, IVIG at the corresponding concentration was examined as a negative control. Data represent means ± SEMs for four replicate samples and are expressed as percentages of the mean infectivity measured in preparations incubated with IVIG for 2 min (201 and 97 ß-galactosidase-positive cells for panels A and B, respectively). (C) Measurements of magnetically controlled neutralization assays plotted as the natural logarithm of the fraction of residual infectivity (I/I0) at each time point. (D) The neutralization rate constant (Kobs) for the indicated MAb b12 concentrations was calculated by dln(I/I0)/dt and plotted as a function of Ab concentration.
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We note that the neutralizing effect of Abs was measured under nonequilibrium conditions (i.e., unbound Ab was removed from the medium after cell attachment). Under these conditions, no deviation from first-order kinetics was observed with the different Ab concentrations during the time periods examined (producing up to 96 and 92% neutralization by MAb b12 and HIVIG, respectively). Since reversibility of neutralization by Ab dissociation is expected to decrease the measured rate of decline (22, 34, 42), the consistency of the elimination rate implied the functional irreversibility of the neutralizing interaction, as previously suggested (26).
Escape of HIV from Abs by cell entry. The capacity to synchronously initiate infection in the cell culture enabled us to monitor the escape of cell-bound virus, engaged in entry, from Ab-mediated neutralization. Since magnetically adsorbed virus is associated with MNPs, we initially examined whether MNP association status affects virus accessibility to Ab. For this purpose, HIV preparations were preincubated with MNPs for 2 min and then Ab was added for 45 min (either MAb b12 or IVIG as a control, both at 5 µg/ml). The reverse order of incubation was also examined, by first preincubating virus with Ab for 45 min and then adding MNPs for 2 min. Preparations were then magnetically adsorbed to HeLa-CD4 cells, and infectivity was assayed 4 days later. We found that virus was similarly neutralized, whether MNPs were added before or after incubation with the MAb (data not shown). Likewise, virus treated with negative-control IVIG was equally infectious in both cases. We thus conclude that MNP-associated virus and free virus are similarly accessible to neutralization.
To monitor the progression of HIV escape from neutralization at physiologic temperature, we synchronously initiated infection and then added Ab at different times postattachment. Virus sensitivity to neutralization gradually decreased with time (Fig. 6A). Initially, the capacity to escape was dependent on Ab concentration; as the concentration was decreased (i.e., neutralization progressed at a lower rate), a larger fraction was able to infect the cells. Subsequently, with the decrease in the number of viruses accessible to neutralization, no significant differences were observed between Ab concentrations.
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FIG. 6. Neutralization and escape of cell-bound HIV. (A) Kinetics of escape of magnetically adsorbed HIV-1IIIBnls.ß-gal from neutralization by MAb b12. (B) Neutralization kinetics of cell-bound HIV-1IIIBnls.ß-gal. Virus was magnetically adsorbed at 37°C to HeLa-CD4 cells cultured in medium containing 5 µg/ml MAb b12. At different times postadsorption, cells were washed twice with culture medium containing no Ab and further incubated for 4 days. Data are presented as percentages of the mean infectivity measured in cultures incubated with IVIG control Ab. Neutralization kinetics of cell-free HIV-1IIIB by 5 µg/ml MAb b12 are plotted for comparison. (C) Kinetics of escape of cell-bound HIV from protease-mediated inactivation and MAb b12-mediated neutralization. Data points represent means ± SEMs for three or four replicate samples. ß-Gal+, ß-galactosidase positive.
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Escape of cell-bound HIV from protease-mediated inactivation. The resistance of virus to protease inactivation is commonly used as a measure of cell entry (27). We thus compared the escape of magnetically adsorbed virus from MAb b12-mediated neutralization with escape from trypsin-EDTA activity. The MAb b12 was added at a concentration eliciting half-maximal neutralization of the cell-free virus after 10 min, as determined by the magnetically controlled assay. We found that at each time point, cell-bound HIV was more sensitive to inactivation by trypsin-EDTA, resulting in a relative shift of the linear phase of the escape curve by approximately 30 min (Fig. 6C).
A direct comparison between these two escape profiles cannot be made, due to the different modes of inactivation and since the critical step of sensitivity (beyond which the virus is no longer accessible for inactivation) is yet unknown for both reagents. Nevertheless, given a half-maximal neutralization rate of 10 min for MAb b12, the existence of a 30-min shift between escape curves suggested that the MAb b12 effect persisted over a shorter time frame during the entry phase than the trypsin-EDTA effect. The consistency of the shift throughout the course of the experiment suggested that the stage of virus insensitivity to MAb b12 occurred at an earlier time point of the entry sequence than the stage of virus insensitivity to trypsin-EDTA.
Escape of cell-bound HIV from Abs directed against different envelope protein epitopes. Is neutralization escape of cell-bound HIV affected only by Ab association rate or is it also determined by target epitope? To examine this issue, we compared two MAbs directed against well-characterized epitopes on the viral envelope protein that are exposed to Ab binding over different time frames during the entry sequence: (i) MAb b12, which binds to the CD4-binding site of gp120 only until CD4 receptor engagement (30, 37), representing the first step of viral entry, and (ii) MAb 2F5, which binds to both native and intermediate conformations of the envelope protein until a late stage of entry (13). The MAbs were used at concentrations that elicit identical neutralization rates (half-maximal neutralization of free virus after 10 min, as determined by the magnetically controlled neutralization assay). We found that, at each time point, cell-bound virus was more effectively neutralized by MAb 2F5 than by MAb b12 (Fig. 7A). Differential neutralization efficiency resulted in a significant right shift of the MAb 2F5 escape curve by approximately 30 min.
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FIG. 7. Kinetics of escape of cell-bound HIV-1IIIB from neutralization by 5 µg/ml MAb b12 and 70 µg/ml MAb 2F5 (A) or 2 µg/ml MAb b12 and 2.5 mg/ml HIVIG (B). Data points represent means ± SEMs for four replicate samples. Results are representative of two separate experiments performed for each pair of Ab preparations. ß-Gal+, ß-galactosidase positive.
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Therefore, given identical neutralization rates and functional irreversibility of neutralization, the existence of a time lag between the escape of virus from the two MAbs suggested that sensitivity to neutralization was determined by the functional-association time of the Ab during the course of the entry phase.
Escape of cell-bound HIV from human polyclonal anti-HIV-1 IgG. The polyclonal Ab response that is mounted against HIV following infection includes a diversity of Abs that target different viral epitopes, most commonly the CD4-binding site of the envelope protein (29) and the V1/V2 and V3 loops (21, 44, 46). We thus compared the neutralization scope of MAb b12 to that of HIVIG preparations. Abs were used at concentrations that elicit identical neutralization rates (half-maximal neutralization of free virus at 40 min). Surprisingly, we found that for each time point examined, cell-bound virus was more effectively neutralized by HIVIG than by MAb b12 (Fig. 7B), shifting the HIVIG escape curve by approximately 30 min. We note that similar differences were observed with two different pooled-source HIVIG preparations examined in separate experiments. The neutralizing effect of HIVIG was thus sustained over extended time frames during the viral entry phase, significantly beyond the stage of CD4 engagement.
Effect of coreceptor antagonist AMD3100 on HIV escape from Abs. The HIV envelope protein sequentially engages the CD4 receptor and coreceptor (CXCR4 or CCR5). Cell surface density of coreceptor has been shown to determine engagement rate, thus affecting viral entry kinetics (36, 38). We therefore hypothesized that by extending the time required for the CD4-bound envelope protein to engage the coreceptor, susceptibility time for MAb 2F5 would increase, while susceptibility to MAb b12 would be less significantly affected.
To examine this hypothesis, we used CXCR4 antagonist AMD3100 to reduce the density of functional cell surface coreceptors (15). As expected, AMD3100 potently inhibited HIV-1IIIB infectivity in a concentration-dependent manner (Fig. 8A). For each level of AMD3100-mediated inhibition, we measured the neutralization efficiencies of MAbs 2F5 and b12, defined as the reductions (n-fold) of infectivity relative to infectivity with AMD3100 but no Ab. The relative potency of the Abs at each inhibition level is presented as the infectivity ratio in Fig. 8B, which demonstrates that with increasing AMD3100 concentrations, the MAb 2F5 effect was considerably enhanced relative to the MAb b12 effect. Therefore, by decreasing the rate of coreceptor engagement, neutralization by MAb 2F5 was preferentially increased. This result further supported the concept that HIV neutralization sensitivity is determined by the time frames for binding of Ab to the receptor-activated envelope proteins during the course of entry.
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FIG. 8. Escape of cell-bound HIV-1IIIB from Abs in the presence of AMD3100. (A) HeLa-CD4 cells were preincubated with the indicated concentrations of AMD3100 suspended in culture medium for 30 min at 37°C and then magnetically adsorbed with HIV-1IIIBluc. Cells were further incubated for 40 min and then treated with culture medium containing 5 µg/ml MAb b12, 70 µg/ml MAb 2F5, or no Ab. Four days later, cultures were assayed for luciferase activity. Results are presented as mean relative light unit (RLU) measurements ± SEMs for three replicate samples. (B) Data are presented as ratios of the mean infectivity measured in cultures treated with MAb 2F5 to that measured in cultures treated with MAb b12.
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The efficiencies of MAbs 2F5 and b12 in neutralizing cell-free virus were determined by measuring the concentration of Ab required to reduce infectivity by 50% following a 12-min exposure to the virus (Fig. 9A). Similar to the neutralization of the HIV-1IIIB strain, the functional on-rates of the two MAbs differed significantly, with concentrations of 2 and 32 µg/ml for MAbs b12 and 2F5, respectively, required to achieve half-maximal neutralization of the cell-free virus after 12 min.
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FIG. 9. Neutralization and escape of HIV-1JRFL. (A) Cell-free virus neutralization. HIV-1JRFLluc preparations were preincubated with the indicated concentrations of Ab for 12 min at 37°C and then magnetically adsorbed to Cf2Th-CD4/CCR5 cells for 2 min. Cells were then washed, and infectivity was assayed 2 days later. Results are presented as percentages of the mean infectivity measured in the absence of Ab ± SEMs for three replicate samples. (B) Kinetics of escape of cell-bound HIV-1JRFL from neutralization by 2 µg/ml MAb b12 and 32 µg/ml MAb 2F5. Data are presented as percentages of the mean infectivity measured in cultures not treated with Ab ± SEMs for three replicate samples. Results are representative of two independent experiments performed separately. (C) Escape of cell-bound HIV-1JRFL from Abs in the presence of TAK-779. Cf2Th-CD4/CCR5 cells were preincubated with the indicated concentrations of TAK-779 suspended in culture medium for 30 min at 37°C and then magnetically adsorbed with HIV-1JRFLluc. Cells were further incubated for 15 min, and the medium was removed and replaced by culture medium containing 2 µg/ml MAb b12, 32 µg/ml MAb 2F5, or no Ab. Two days later, cultures were assayed for luciferase activity. Infectivities measured in cultures treated with no Ab are presented as mean relative light unit (RLU) measurements ± SEMs for three replicate samples ( ). Bars represent ratios of the mean infectivity measured in cultures treated with MAb 2F5 to that measured in cultures treated with MAb b12.
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To determine whether reducing the rate of fusion by limiting the density of the coreceptor would differentially affect the neutralization efficiencies of these MAbs, we used the CCR5 antagonist TAK-779 (3, 38). Virus was magnetically adsorbed to the cells in the presence of different TAK-779 concentrations which were then treated with the MAbs (or medium containing no Ab) at 15 min after synchronized initiation of infection. In the absence of Ab, HIV-1JRFL infectivity was modestly affected by TAK-779 (Fig. 9C). Comparison of the neutralization efficiencies of the Abs at each of the TAK-779 concentrations clearly demonstrated a preferential enhancement of the MAb 2F5 effect at higher TAK-779 inhibition levels. The resulting decrease of the 2F5/b12 infectivity ratio thus corresponded with the effect of the CXCR4 antagonist AMD-3100 (Fig. 8B).
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Whether or not Ab-mediated inhibition of virus attachment to the cell plays a primary role in the neutralization of virus infectivity has been significantly debated. While several studies have shown that addition of Ab to virus preparations reduces binding of viral particles to target cells, the effect is limited to specific cell and Ab types (5, 7, 28, 33, 40, 43). The selective nature of the phenomenon may indeed derive from the differential permissiveness of cells for adsorption of virus-Ab complexes. Inasmuch, even contradictory findings reported for the same virus-Ab-cell system may be explained by the specific experimental conditions applied, and hence, by the experimental definition of stable attachment (5, 40). Nevertheless, since the large majority of virions in HIV preparations are noninfectious (ratios of infectious to physical particles range between 103 and 107), viral particle adsorption assays are limited in their capacities to reflect the behavior of the insignificant infection-relevant fraction (24, 45). Here, we remove such potential biases by simultaneous transfer of the entire viral inoculum to the stable cell-bound state. All virions in the sample, regardless of infectivity potential or Ab binding status, are anchored to the cell surface and presented for infection. Due to this large excess of inactive virions, we have focused our assays mostly on measurement of infectivity.
Under all conditions tested, Ab-bound HIV-1 that was stably anchored to the cell surface was noninfectious. Abs therefore inhibited a step of infection that is subsequent to cell attachment. Postattachment neutralization was observed with different cell types (immortalized cell lines and primary lymphocytes) and viral strains (T-cell-line-adapted HIV-1IIIB and primary isolates HIV-189.6 and HIV-1JRFL). Three of the major cross-clade-neutralizing MAbs (b12, 2F5, and 2G12) inhibited HIV infection postattachment, as did polyclonal IgG isolated from HIV-1-infected individuals. Thus, postattachment inhibition served a major and quantifiable role in virus elimination under all experimental conditions tested.
We emphasize that we do not exclude the possibility that a cell attachment block may contribute to the neutralizing effect of an Ab. Here, by magnetically inducing virus attachment to cells, we analyze only the effects of Ab binding on postattachment events. Hence, cell type-specific adsorption properties, which may affect the relationship between block of attachment and neutralization in diffusion-mediated infection, do not influence measurements in magnetically controlled infection.
To monitor the progression of postattachment interference, we synchronized the entry sequence by simultaneous attachment of viruses to cells and measured virus escape from neutralization. We observed that the neutralizing capacity of the Ab added at each time point depended on both the rate of Ab binding and the fraction of viruses that had not yet progressed beyond the step of insensitivity to the neutralizing effect.
The time frames for virus sensitivity to neutralization during entry were compared for two MAbs that target different envelope epitopes: (i) MAb b12, which binds only until CD4 engagement (30), and (ii) MAb 2F5, which can bind until a later fusion-intermediate stage (13, 17, 39). Therefore, from the initiation of the entry process, these Abs can bind to the envelope protein for different time spans. Under conditions of identical neutralization rates by the two Abs, we observed that HIV escape from MAb 2F5 was significantly delayed relative to escape from MAb b12. This lag was measured at 30 min for HIV-1IIIB infection of HeLa-CD4 cells and 10 min for HIV-1JRFL infection of Cf2Th-CD4/CCR5 cells. Given the functional irreversibility of Ab binding, the existence of a lag suggested that the time frame during which the Ab can bind to envelope proteins involved in entry determines the time frame for virus sensitivity to neutralization.
This proposed mechanism was further tested under infection conditions limited by the cell surface density of functional coreceptors, using CXCR4 and CCR5 antagonists. By decreasing coreceptor engagement rate, the CD4-activated envelope proteins are sustained over longer time frames in this fusion-intermediate state (36, 38), thus selectively extending the window of opportunity for those Abs that can bind to this envelope protein conformation. The observed preferential enhancement of MAb 2F5-mediated neutralization relative to the MAb b12 effect substantiated the concept that neutralization efficiency is determined by the time frames during which Ab can bind to the receptor-activated envelope proteins during the course of the entry phase. Moreover, these results demonstrated the differential effect of coreceptor density on the neutralization efficiencies of different Abs.
Increased neutralization of cell-bound virus by MAb 2F5 relative to that by MAb b12 was indeed observed in previous studies (23, 43). However, since infection could not be synchronously initiated, cell-bound virus was mostly resistant to the effect of MAb b12 after the initial adsorption period. Differences in Ab resistance were thus taken to indicate that MAb b12 neutralizes by inhibiting cell attachment whereas MAb 2F5 inhibits a postattachment step. Here, by synchronizing the infection sequence at initiation, we show that both MAbs interfere with a postattachment step, but the time frames for virus sensitivity to neutralization differ.
We note that no attempt is made here to determine the stoichiometry of entry or neutralization. Measured kinetics of cell-free virus neutralization are employed as a basis for comparing the functional-association rates of different Abs and for examining the functional reversibility of Ab binding to the virus under nonequilibrium conditions (26). Whether single- or multiple-envelope proteins are required to mediate HIV entry (47), the changes that follow receptor activation define a sequence of shifting sensitivities of the virus to neutralization by different Abs.
In a recently published work, Steger and Root show that the 50% inhibitory concentration values of HIV-1 fusion inhibitors do not correlate with binding affinity but rather correlate inversely with the association rate constant of the inhibitor (41). The authors therefore suggest that inhibitor potency may be determined by temporal accessibility to the transiently exposed target. Here, we directly demonstrate the shifting sensitivities of virus to Ab-mediated neutralization during the course of the entry phase. We thus identify the existence of a new and significant determinant of Ab neutralization efficiency: the functional-association time frame for Ab during the viral entry process.
Neutralizing Abs generated following HIV infection have been shown to target mainly the CD4-binding site (29) and the V1/V2 and V3 variable loops of the envelope protein (21, 44, 46). Interestingly, we observed that pooled IgG obtained from HIV-1-positive blood donors neutralized the virus for a significant time span beyond the step of CD4 engagement and approximated the MAb 2F5 neutralization profile. The immune response to HIV infection is thus capable of eliciting the production of efficient neutralizing Abs with extended functional-association times. Correlation of specific envelope protein domains with this new measure of Ab neutralization efficiency may serve to better direct the choice of immunogens for the development of an AIDS vaccine.
This work was supported by European Commission program no. 6, the Clinigene Consortium, and grants from the Philip Morris External Research Program, the Hadassah Medical Organization, the Israel Science Foundation, and the Ministry of Health, Chief Scientist, Israel.
Published ahead of print on 24 January 2007. ![]()
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