Antibodies to the HIV-1 p17 protein cross-react with human superoxide dismutase-2

Exclusion of HIV epitopes shared with human proteins is prerequisite for designing safer AIDS vaccines

BACKGROUND

The safety of a potential AIDS vaccine is an issue that will become critical at later stages of product development and needs to be addressed before it is too late.

OBJECTIVE

In order to design safer vaccine, the HIV antigens, to be deployed in it, should be free of regions that are either present in human proteins or exhibit pronounced structural similarity to proteins responsible for important physiological functions.

STUDY DESIGN

The approach is based on the use of an original matrix predicting the antigenic similarity of amino acids. This mathematical approach developed by us was applied for identification of fragments with similarity to human proteins within potentially immunodominant regions of HIV proteins. A potential self-sensitization by viral quasispecies with variants of hypervariable V3 region, generated as a result of immune pressure on the immunodominant region of envelope, was considered in detail.

RESULTS

Viral fragments occurring in normal human proteins as well as regions exhibiting high similarity to proteins responsible for physiological homeostasis were identified in every HIV protein at a frequency higher than expected. Most such regions contained either T-cell (CD8(+) CTL or CD4(+) Helper) or B-cell epitopes, or both of them simultaneously. The gained knowledge was applied in designing a synthetic immunogen containing multiple CTL epitopes. The synthesis of series of chimeric peptides representing hypervariable region of V3 loop of HIV envelope, to be used as a multi-epitope or mixotope vaccine candidate, has been achieved. Such a vaccine could theoretically pre-empt any escape mutant borrowing from antigenic diversity of hypervariable region of V3 loop of HIV envelope.

CONCLUSIONS

The epitopes shared by HIV and its host are likely to be implicated in the immunopathogenesis of AIDS through induction of cross-reacting effectors of the immune system. The prospect that 'house-keeping' immune mechanism can be foiled by molecular mimicry of HIV with physiologically important human proteins should be taken into consideration in safer vaccine design.

Cross-reactivity of anti-HIV-1-p17-derivative peptide (P30-52) antibody to Env V3 peptide

Strong antibody responses are often seen in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) carriers, but it is not known whether these antibodies are effective in the inhibition of disease progression. In this study, we examined antigenic epitopes for anti-HIV-1 p17 antibody (p17 Ab) in an HIV-1 carrier's serum, and found that the residues of amino acid numbers 1 to 12 (P1-12), 12 to 29 (P12-29) and 30 to 52 (P30-52) of p17 were highly recognized in the serum. Our examination of purified antibodies from the patient using the p17-derivative-peptide-immunoaffinity columns showed that the reactivity of anti-p30-52 Ab (p30-52Ab) was high for p30-52 and the naive protein, p17. In addition, this P30-52Ab cross-reacted with the third variable region of the envelope glycoprotein (Env V3). To confirm this cross-reactivity, we immunized mice with P30-52, and established a monoclonal antibody (MAb), 8H10. We found that 8H10 was also reactive to Env V3. It is unclear whether this cross-reactivity of P30-52 Ab can function as the inhibitor of HIV-1, but these results will be of help in clarifying the interaction of Env protein with HIV-1 gag polyprotein and the relationship of the decline of the p17 antibody titer with the disease progression in HIV-1 carriers.

Anti-P30-52 monoclonal antibody cross-reacted to Env V3 and inhibited the viral multiplication of HIV-1-infected MT-4 cells

It is well known that the anti-p17 antibody titer decreases with the disease progression among human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) carriers. We previously established several murine anti-p17 monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) to investigate the immunological role of p17, and to further characterize these MAbs, we examined the anti-p17 antibody titer in serum of a patient who was a long-term nonprogressor with hemophilia, and found that the antibody for the p17-derivative peptide from amino acid residues 30 to 52 (P30-52) cross-reacted to the third variable region of the envelope glycoprotein of HIV-1, Env V3. In the present study, we primed mice with P30-52 to establish anti-P30-52 MAbs (P30-52 MAbs), and examined their affinity and whether they suppressed the viral multiplication of HIV-1-infected MT-4 (HTLV-1-transformed CD4+ T-cell line) cells, in a TCID50 assay. At the same time, an anti-Env V3 MAb (Env V3 MAb) was also established and examined as above. The IgM-type P30-52 MAb and Env V3 MAb showed heteroclitic binding, and the IgM-type P30-52 MAb inhibited the viral multiplication. We also found that an increase of fragmented DNA of HIV-1-infected MT-4 cells co-cultured with P30-52 MAbs. Because DNA fragmentation is one of the features of programmed cell death, the viral multiplication may be suppressed by the apoptosis of HIV-1-infected MT-4 cells co-cultured with P30-52 MAbs. Though the relationship between cross-reactivity and the inhibition mechanism of multiplication of HIV-1 is unclear, P30-52 of p17 may well be a useful region of viral proteins for the development of therapeutic and vaccination strategies.