Single peptide and anti-idiotype based immunizations can broaden the antibody response against the variable V3 domain of HIV-1 in mice

Brief introduction of current technologies in isolation of broadly neutralizing HIV-1 antibodies

HIV/AIDS has become a worldwide pandemic. Before an effective HIV-1 vaccine eliciting broadly neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (bnmAbs) is fully developed, passive immunization for prevention and treatment of HIV-1 infection may alleviate the burden caused by the pandemic. Among HIV-1 infected individuals, about 20% of them generated cross-reactive neutralizing antibodies two to four years after infection, the details of which could provide knowledge for effective vaccine design. Recent progress in techniques for isolation of human broadly neutralizing antibodies has facilitated the study of passive immunization. The isolation and characterization of large panels of potent human broadly neutralizing antibodies has revealed new insights into the principles of antibody-mediated neutralization of HIV. In this paper, we review the current effective techniques in broadly neutralizing antibody isolation.

Anti-anti-idiotypic (Ab3) antibodies that bind progesterone-11alpha-bovine serum albumin differ in their combining sites from antibodies raised directly against the antigen

Polyclonal rabbit anti-idiotypic (Ab2) antibodies raised against the antiprogesterone mAb DB3 (Ab1) were used to induce an Ab3 antiprogesterone response in BALB/c mice. While the affinity of Ab3 sera for progesterone was 10-50-times lower than that of DB3, their steroid-binding specificity showed considerable similarity to DB3. Two immunoglobulin M (IgM) Ab3 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), 1A4 and 3B11, were obtained, both of which bound progesterone conjugated to bovine serum albumin (progesterone-BSA). 1A4 also bound free progesterone, although with low affinity and very broad cross-reactivity. Like DB3, 1A4 is encoded by a heavy-chain variable region (VH) gene segment from the small VGAM3.8 family, a restriction that is characteristic of antibodies raised against progesterone-11alpha-BSA. In contrast, 3B11 binds progesterone-11alpha-BSA but not free progesterone and is encoded by an unrelated VH gene from the J558 family. The light chain variable region (VL) of 1A4 lacks the intradomain disulphide bridge owing to replacement of CysL23 by Tyr. Both the 1A4 and 3B11 heavy chains have extremely short complementarity determining region (CDR) H3 loops, comprising three and four amino acids, respectively. Modelling of the combining site of 1A4 from the X-ray crystallographic structure of DB3 indicates that the short H3 loop is a major factor in the loss of affinity and specificity for steroid.

Serological and histological findings in infection and transmission of GBV-C/HGV to macaques

Seven healthy macaques were inoculated with the GBV-C/HGV-RNA serum from a non-A-E hepatitis patient. The serology and pathology of the liver in the animals were observed. The results indicated that all inoculated animals were infected with a GBV-C/HGV-RNA viremia and had mildly abnormal alanine transaminase levels during the infectious period. The histology, immuno-histochemistry, and in situ hybridization in the liver tissues of the inoculated animals also showed that there was a very mild hepatitis with the positive antigenic expression and the genome of GBV-C/HGV-NS5 in hepatocytes. The pathological changes in the infected animals appeared to become normal whether or not GBV-C/HGV-RNA viremia persisted. There is a possibility that the mild virulence of the GBV-C/HGV to the host became harmless with time after inoculation. Infection and the transmission of the GBV-C/HGV virus in the macaques provides an appropriate animal model and new information about GBV-C/HGV infection in both humans and animals. It is possible that this virus is a mild and self-limited pathogenic agent to the hepatic cells of primates.

Fine analysis of immunoreactivity of V3 peptides: antibodies specific for V3 domain of laboratory HIV type 1 strains recognize multiple V3 sequences synthesized from field HIV type 1 isolates

Production of cross-reactive antibodies recognizing the V3 loop--that is, the principal neutralizing determinant (PND)--of various HIV-1 isolates is an important challenge in the development of passive immunotherapy or vaccinations against AIDS. We have produced two types of antibodies to the V3 domain of HIV-1: (1) antibodies against the HIV-1 MN laboratory strain generated in rabbits and (2) antibodies targeted to the HIV-1 LAI laboratory strain induced in chimpanzees. These antibodies were shown to be specific for HIV-1 subtype B. The cross-reactivity of these antibodies has been evaluated against a large panel of peptides representing different parts of the V3 loop. Seventy-five peptides, referred to as clinical peptides, were synthesized according to HIV-1 sequences recovered from PMBCs of 27 patients followed in three Parisian hospitals. Thirteen V3 peptides derived from 4 HIV-1 laboratory strains (MN, LAI, SF2, and RF) were also included in the study. The results show that both the amino-terminal and central parts of the V3 loop are immunogenic. The rabbit antibodies against the amino-terminal end of the PND proved to be highly cross-reactive against the clinical peptides. The anti-gp160 antibodies induced in one chimpanzee recognized a significant proportion of the panel of V3 clinical sequences. These antibodies cross-reacted mainly with the apex of the V3 loop. These data give some additional indications on the immunogenicity of the V3 loop and further demonstrate that extensive cross-reactivity of anti-V3 antibodies can be obtained on field HIV-1 isolates despite the high variability of the V3 loop amino acid sequence.