scholarly journals Efficiently cleaved HIV-1 envelopes: can they be important for vaccine immunogen development?

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 251513552095776
Author(s):  
Supratik Das ◽  
Rajesh Kumar ◽  
Shubbir Ahmed ◽  
Hilal Ahmad Parray ◽  
Sweety Samal
Keyword(s):  
Neutralizing Antibodies ◽  
Vaccine Immunogen ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Tremendous Progress ◽  
Antigenic Properties ◽  
Immunogen Design ◽  
Membrane Bound ◽  
Work Done ◽  
Hiv 1 ◽  
Made In

The enormous diversity of HIV-1 is a significant impediment in selecting envelopes (Envs) that can be suitable for designing vaccine immunogens. While tremendous progress has been made in developing soluble, trimeric, native-like Env proteins, those that have elicited neutralizing antibodies (Abs) in animal models are relatively few. A strategy of selecting naturally occurring Envs suitable for immunogen design by studying the correlation between efficient cleavage on the cell surface and their selective binding to broadly neutralizing Abs (bNAbs) and not to non-neutralizing Abs (non-NAbs), properties essential in immunogens, may be useful. Here we discuss some of the challenges of developing an efficacious HIV-1 vaccine and the work done in generating soluble immunogens. We also discuss the study of naturally occurring, membrane-bound, efficiently cleaved (naturally more sensitive to furin) Envs and how they may positively add to the repertoire of HIV-1 Envs that can be used for vaccine immunogen design. However, even with such Envs, the challenges of developing well-folded, native-like trimers as soluble proteins or using other immunogen strategies such as virus-like particles with desirable antigenic properties remain, and are formidable. In spite of the progress that has been made in the HIV-1 vaccine field, an immunogen that elicits neutralizing Abs with significant breadth and potency in vaccines has still not been developed. Efficiently cleaved Envs may increase the number of available Envs suitable for immunogen design and should be studied further.

scholarly journals Artificial Anti-HIV-1 Immunogen Comprising Epitopes of Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies 2F5, 10E8, and a Peptide Mimic of VRC01 Discontinuous Epitope

Vaccines ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrey P. Rudometov ◽  
Anton N. Chikaev ◽  
Nadezhda B. Rudometova ◽  
Denis V. Antonets ◽  
Alexander A. Lomzov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
B Cell ◽  
Neutralizing Antibodies ◽  
Viral Infections ◽  
T Cell Epitopes ◽  
B Cell Epitopes ◽  
Linear Peptide ◽  
Peptide Mimic ◽  
Antigenic Properties ◽  
Immunogen Design ◽  
Hiv 1

The construction of artificial proteins using conservative B-cell and T-cell epitopes is believed to be a promising approach for a vaccine design against diverse viral infections. This article describes the development of an artificial HIV-1 immunogen using a polyepitope immunogen design strategy. We developed a recombinant protein, referred to as nTBI, that contains epitopes recognized by broadly neutralizing HIV-1 antibodies (bNAbs) combined with Th-epitopes. This is a modified version of a previously designed artificial protein, TBI (T- and B-cell epitopes containing Immunogen), carrying four T- and five B-cell epitopes from HIV-1 Env and Gag proteins. To engineer the nTBI molecule, three B-cell epitopes of the TBI protein were replaced with the epitopes recognized by broadly neutralizing HIV-1 antibodies 10E8, 2F5, and a linear peptide mimic of VRC01 epitope. We showed that immunization of rabbits with the nTBI protein elicited antibodies that recognize HIV-1 proteins and were able to neutralize Env-pseudotyped SF162.LS HIV-1 strain (tier 1). Competition assay revealed that immunization of rabbits with nTBI induced mainly 10E8-like antibodies. Our findings support the use of nTBI protein as an immunogen with predefined favorable antigenic properties.

scholarly journals HIV-1 Envelope Conformation, Allostery, and Dynamics

Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 852
Author(s):  
Ashley Lauren Bennett ◽  
Rory Henderson
Keyword(s):  
Host Cell ◽  
Conformational Changes ◽  
Neutralizing Antibodies ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Cell Receptor ◽  
Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies ◽  
Structural Mapping ◽  
Host Cell Receptor ◽  
Immunogen Design ◽  
Hiv 1

The HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein (Env) mediates host cell fusion and is the primary target for HIV-1 vaccine design. The Env undergoes a series of functionally important conformational rearrangements upon engagement of its host cell receptor, CD4. As the sole target for broadly neutralizing antibodies, our understanding of these transitions plays a critical role in vaccine immunogen design. Here, we review available experimental data interrogating the HIV-1 Env conformation and detail computational efforts aimed at delineating the series of conformational changes connecting these rearrangements. These studies have provided a structural mapping of prefusion closed, open, and transition intermediate structures, the allosteric elements controlling rearrangements, and state-to-state transition dynamics. The combination of these investigations and innovations in molecular modeling set the stage for advanced studies examining rearrangements at greater spatial and temporal resolution.

scholarly journals Lipid modulation of membrane-bound epitope recognition and blocking by HIV-1 neutralizing antibodies

FEBS Letters ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 582 (27) ◽  
pp. 3798-3804 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nerea Huarte ◽  
Maier Lorizate ◽  
Renate Kunert ◽  
José L. Nieva
Keyword(s):  
Neutralizing Antibodies ◽  
Epitope Recognition ◽  
Membrane Bound ◽  
Hiv 1

scholarly journals Breadth or conservation score (CS): which is more important for HIV-1 T cell based vaccine immunogen design?

Retrovirology ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (S2) ◽  
Author(s):  
P Kunwar ◽  
NR Hawkins ◽  
X Yu ◽  
Y Liu ◽  
A Collier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cell ◽  
Conservation Score ◽  
Vaccine Immunogen ◽  
Immunogen Design ◽  
Hiv 1

scholarly journals A Novel MVA-Based HIV Vaccine Candidate (MVA-gp145-GPN) Co-Expressing Clade C Membrane-Bound Trimeric gp145 Env and Gag-Induced Virus-Like Particles (VLPs) Triggered Broad and Multifunctional HIV-1-Specific T Cell and Antibody Responses

Viruses ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beatriz Perdiguero ◽  
Cristina Sánchez-Corzo ◽  
Carlos Sorzano ◽  
Lidia Saiz ◽  
Pilar Mediavilla ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neutralizing Antibodies ◽  
Vaccine Candidate ◽  
Hiv Vaccine ◽  
Replication Capacity ◽  
Virus Like Particles ◽  
Modified Vaccinia Virus Ankara ◽  
Clade C ◽  
Membrane Bound ◽  
Hiv 1

The development of an effective Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) vaccine that is able to stimulate both the humoral and cellular HIV-1-specific immune responses remains a major priority challenge. In this study, we described the generation and preclinical evaluation of single and double modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA)-based candidates expressing the HIV-1 clade C membrane-bound gp145(ZM96) trimeric protein and/or the Gag(ZM96)-Pol-Nef(CN54) (GPN) polyprotein that was processed to form Gag-induced virus-like particles (VLPs). In vitro characterization of MVA recombinants revealed the stable integration of HIV-1 genes without affecting its replication capacity. In cells that were infected with Env-expressing viruses, the gp145 protein was inserted into the plasma membrane exposing critical epitopes that were recognized by broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs), whereas Gag-induced VLPs were released from cells that were infected with GPN-expressing viruses. VLP particles as well as purified MVA virions contain Env and Gag visualized by immunoelectron microscopy and western-blot of fractions that were obtained after detergent treatments of purified virus particles. In BALB/c mice, homologous MVA-gp145-GPN prime/boost regimen induced broad and polyfunctional Env- and Gag-specific CD4 T cells and antigen-specific T follicular helper (Tfh) and Germinal Center (GC) B cells, which correlated with robust HIV-1-specific humoral responses. Overall, these results support the consideration of MVA-gp145-GPN vector as a potential vaccine candidate against HIV-1.

scholarly journals Peptide-Based Vaccination for Antibody Responses Against HIV

Vaccines ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Combadière ◽  
Beaujean ◽  
Chaudesaigues ◽  
Vieillard
Keyword(s):  
Neutralizing Antibodies ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Therapeutic Vaccine ◽  
Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies ◽  
Virus Eradication ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Peptide Carrier ◽  
Stage Development ◽  
Hiv 1 ◽  
Made In

HIV-1 is responsible for a global pandemic of 35 million people and continues to spread at a rate of >2 million new infections/year. It is widely acknowledged that a protective vaccine would be the most effective means to reduce HIV-1 spread and ultimately eliminate the pandemic, whereas a therapeutic vaccine might help to mitigate the clinical course of the disease and to contribute to virus eradication strategies. However, despite more than 30 years of research, we do not have a vaccine capable of protecting against HIV-1 infection or impacting on disease progression. This, in part, denotes the challenge of identifying immunogens and vaccine modalities with a reduced risk of failure in late stage development. However, progress has been made in epitope identification for the induction of broadly neutralizing antibodies. Thus, peptide-based vaccination has become one of the challenges of this decade. While some researchers reconstitute envelope protein conformation and stabilization to conserve the epitope targeted by neutralizing antibodies, others have developed strategies based on peptide-carrier vaccines with a similar goal. Here, we will review the major peptide-carrier based approaches in the vaccine field and their application and recent development in the HIV-1 field.

scholarly journals DNA Vaccine Molecular Adjuvants SP-D-BAFF and SP-D-APRIL Enhance Anti-gp120 Immune Response and Increase HIV-1 Neutralizing Antibody Titers

2015 ◽  
Vol 89 (8) ◽  
pp. 4158-4169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sachin Gupta ◽  
Emily S. Clark ◽  
James M. Termini ◽  
Justin Boucher ◽  
Saravana Kanagavelu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neutralizing Antibodies ◽  
Surfactant Protein ◽  
Surfactant Protein D ◽  
Tier 2 ◽  
Tier 1 ◽  
Membrane Bound ◽  
Molecular Adjuvants ◽  
Anti Hiv ◽  
Hiv 1 ◽  
Antibody Secreting Cells

ABSTRACTBroadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) specific for conserved epitopes on the HIV-1 envelope (Env) are believed to be essential for protection against multiple HIV-1 clades. However, vaccines capable of stimulating the production of bNAbs remain a major challenge. Given that polyreactivity and autoreactivity are considered important characteristics of anti-HIV bNAbs, we designed an HIV vaccine incorporating the molecular adjuvants BAFF (B cell activating factor) and APRIL (a proliferation-inducing ligand) with the potential to facilitate the maturation of polyreactive and autoreactive B cells as well as to enhance the affinity and/or avidity of Env-specific antibodies. We designed recombinant DNA plasmids encoding soluble multitrimers of BAFF and APRIL using surfactant protein D as a scaffold, and we vaccinated mice with these molecular adjuvants using DNA and DNA-protein vaccination strategies. We found that immunization of mice with a DNA vaccine encoding BAFF or APRIL multitrimers, together with interleukin 12 (IL-12) and membrane-bound HIV-1 Env gp140, induced neutralizing antibodies against tier 1 and tier 2 (vaccine strain) viruses. The APRIL-containing vaccine was particularly effective at generating tier 2 neutralizing antibodies following a protein boost. These BAFF and APRIL effects coincided with an enhanced germinal center (GC) reaction, increased anti-gp120 antibody-secreting cells, and increased anti-gp120 functional avidity. Notably, BAFF and APRIL did not cause indiscriminate B cell expansion or an increase in total IgG. We propose that BAFF and APRIL multitrimers are promising molecular adjuvants for vaccines designed to induce bNAbs against HIV-1.IMPORTANCERecent identification of antibodies that neutralize most HIV-1 strains has revived hopes and efforts to create novel vaccines that can effectively stimulate HIV-1 neutralizing antibodies. However, the multiple immune evasion properties of HIV have hampered these efforts. These include the instability of the gp120 trimer, the inaccessibility of the conserved sequences, highly variable protein sequences, and the loss of HIV-1-specific antibody-producing cells during development. We have shown previously that tumor necrosis factor (TNF) superfamily ligands, including BAFF and APRIL, can be multitrimerized using the lung protein SP-D (surfactant protein D), enhancing immune responses. Here we show that DNA or DNA-protein vaccines encoding BAFF or APRIL multitrimers, IL-12p70, and membrane-bound HIV-1 Env gp140 induced tier 1 and tier 2 neutralizing antibodies in a mouse model. BAFF and APRIL enhanced the immune reaction, improved antibody binding, and increased the numbers of anti-HIV-1 antibody-secreting cells. Adaptation of this vaccine design may prove useful in designing preventive HIV-1 vaccines for humans.

scholarly journals Shedding-Resistant HIV-1 Envelope Glycoproteins Adopt Downstream Conformations That Remain Responsive to Conformation-Preferring Ligands

2020 ◽  
Vol 94 (17) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maolin Lu ◽  
Xiaochu Ma ◽  
Nick Reichard ◽  
Daniel S. Terry ◽  
James Arthos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Structural Characterization ◽  
Envelope Glycoprotein ◽  
Neutralizing Antibodies ◽  
Conformational State ◽  
Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies ◽  
Membrane Bound ◽  
State 1 ◽  
Hiv 1 ◽  
Conformation State

ABSTRACT The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) envelope glycoprotein (Env) trimer of gp120-gp41 heterodimers mediates virus entry into CD4-positive (CD4+) cells. Single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer (smFRET) has revealed that native Env on the surface of viruses predominantly exists in a pretriggered conformation (state 1) that is preferentially recognized by many broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs). Env is activated by binding receptor CD4, which drives transitions through a default intermediate conformation (state 2) into the three-CD4-bound open conformation (state 3). The application of smFRET to assess the conformational state of existing Env constructs and ligand complexes recently revealed that all current high-resolution structures correspond to downstream states 2 and 3. The structure of state 1, therefore, remains unknown. We sought to identify conditions whereby HIV-1 Env could be stabilized in the pretriggered state 1 for possible structural characterization. Shedding of gp120, known to severely complicate structural studies, can be prevented by using the uncleaved gp160JR-FL precursor with alterations in the protease cleavage site (R508S/R511S) or by introducing a disulfide bridge between gp120 and gp41 designated “SOS” (A501C/T605C). smFRET demonstrated that both shedding-preventing modifications shifted the conformational landscape of Env downstream toward states 2 and 3. However, both membrane-bound Env proteins on the surface of intact viruses remained conformationally dynamic, responsive to state-stabilizing ligands, and able to be stabilized in state 1 by specific ligands such as the Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) entry inhibitors. The here-described identification of state 1-stabilizing conditions may enable structural characterization of the state 1 conformation of HIV-1 Env. IMPORTANCE The HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein (Env) opens in response to receptor CD4 binding from a pretriggered (state 1) conformation through a necessary intermediate to the three-CD4-bound conformation. The application of smFRET to test the conformational state of existing Env constructs and ligand complexes used for high-resolution structures recently revealed that they correspond to the downstream conformations. The structure of the pretriggered Env conformation, preferentially recognized by broadly neutralizing antibodies, remains unknown. Here, we identify experimental conditions that stabilize membrane-bound and shedding-resistant virus Env trimers in state 1, potentially facilitating structural characterization of this unknown conformational state.

scholarly journals Reducing V3 Antigenicity and Immunogenicity on Soluble, Native-Like HIV-1 Env SOSIP Trimers

2017 ◽  
Vol 91 (15) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajesh P. Ringe ◽  
Gabriel Ozorowski ◽  
Kimmo Rantalainen ◽  
Weston B. Struwe ◽  
Katie Matthews ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Animal Models ◽  
Neutralizing Antibodies ◽  
Vaccine Development ◽  
Tier 2 ◽  
Present Generation ◽  
Coreceptor Binding ◽  
Tier 1 ◽  
Immunogen Design ◽  
V3 Region ◽  
Hiv 1

ABSTRACT Native-like trimers of the SOSIP design are being developed as immunogens in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) vaccine development programs. These trimers display the epitopes for multiple broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) but can also expose binding sites for some types of nonneutralizing antibodies (non-NAbs). Among the latter are epitopes in the gp120 V3 region that are highly immunogenic when SOSIP trimers are evaluated in animal models. It is presently uncertain whether antibodies against V3 can interfere with the induction of NAbs, but there are good arguments in favor of suppressing such “off-target” immune responses. Accordingly, we have assessed how to minimize the exposure of V3 non-NAb epitopes and thereby reduce their immunogenicity by introducing N-glycans within the V3 region of BG505 SOSIP trimers. We found that inserting glycans at positions 306 and 314 (termed M1 and M7) markedly reduced V3 antigenicity while improving the presentation of trimer apex bNAb epitopes. Both added glycans were shown to be predominantly of the Man6GlcNAc2 form. The additional introduction of the E64K ground-state stabilizing substitution markedly reduced or ablated soluble CD4 (sCD4) induction of non-NAb epitopes in V3 and/or associated with the coreceptor binding site. When a V3 glycan- and E64K-modified trimer variant, BG505 SOSIP.664-E64K.M1M7, was tested in rabbits, V3 immunogenicity was eliminated while the autologous NAb response was unchanged. IMPORTANCE Trimeric proteins are being developed for future HIV-1 vaccine trials in humans, with the goal of eliciting broadly active neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) that are active against a wide variety of circulating strains. In animal models, the present generation of native-like trimer immunogens, exemplified by the BG505 SOSIP.664 construct, induces narrow-specificity antibodies against the neutralization-resistant (tier-2), sequence-matched virus and more broadly active antibodies against sequence-divergent atypically neutralization-sensitive (tier-1) viruses. A concern in the trimer immunogen design field has been whether the latter off-target antibodies might interfere with the induction of the more desired responses to tier-2 epitopes. Here, we have inserted two glycans into the dominant site for tier-1 NAbs, the gp120 V3 region, to block the induction of off-target antibodies. We characterized the new trimers, tested them as immunogens in rabbits, and found that the blocking glycans eliminated the induction of tier-1 NAbs to V3-epitopes.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document