Cross-neutralizing antibodies to HIV-1 in mice after immunization with gp160 iscoms. Dissection of the immune response

Mucosal AIDS vaccines

Debates are still being waged over what is the best strategy for developing a potent AIDS vaccine. All the obvious approaches to making AIDS vaccines have been tried in the past two decades without much success. It is clear that new thinking and a revision of prevailing dogmas needs to be in place if we really want a vaccine. Conventional envelope-based antibody-inducing vaccines do not appear to hold promise, and broadly-neutralizing antibodies are now being searched as an alternative to the failed approach with subunit vaccines. The current consensus is that cellular immune responses, especially those mediated by CD8 cytotoxic/suppressor (CTL) and CD4 helper T lymphocytes, are needed to control HIV. Vaccines capable of inducing cell-mediated responses are, therefore, considered critical for controlling the spread of HIV. DNA-based vaccines triggering CTL reaction are currently thought to be an answer, but will they fulfill the promise? In the following paragraphs, a critical assessment of the state of the art will be provided in an attempt to analyze what we know and still don't know. The focus of this review is primarily on mucosal vaccines-a relatively new area in AIDS research. The update on V-1 Immunitor, the first mucosal AIDS vaccine available commercially, is provided within this context. Some of the reviewed concepts may be disputable, but without departure from the uninspiring consensus no substantial progress in the AIDS vaccine field can be envisioned.

Enhanced immunogenicity of a human immunodeficiency virus type 1 env DNA vaccine by manipulating N-glycosylation signals. Effects of elimination of the V3 N306 glycan

DNA encoding HIV-1 env is a poorly efficient B-cell immunogen and one probable explanation is that the numerous gp120 N-linked glycans gp120 may interfere with B-cell epitope presentation. The N306 glycan in gp120 shields HIV-1 from neutralizing antibodies. A DNA immunogen lacking the N306 glycosylation signal (T308A) was constructed to determine whether this glycan affected the immune response. Mice were immunized intranasally twice with DNA containing either the wild type or the mutant env. Two additional groups were primed with wild type or mutant env and boosted with rgp160 protein, containing the complete set of N-linked glycans. Immunization with DNA alone resulted in priming of B-cell clones but was not sufficient to induce a complete antibody response. Animals primed with the N306 mutant and subsequently boosted with rgp160 protein displayed higher serum IgG-binding titers to gp120 than animals primed with wild type env DNA. The manipulation of the glycosylation sites of the env DNA strongly primes antibody responses (but non-neutralizing) as well as T-cell responses to the wild type strain gp160. However, priming with mutant plasmid did not result in higher neutralization titers to wild type or T308A-mutated virus than did the wild type plasmid. With the N306 mutant DNA we thus immunized a non-neutralization epitope, but obtained strong env-binding IgG after rgp160 boosting.

Humoral immune response to immunocomplexed HIV envelope glycoprotein 120

To further our understanding of the nature of HIV-1 immunogenicity, we injected mice with the virus envelope protein gp120 in different configurations: free, complexed with its receptor CD4, and as an immunocomplex with a monoclonal antibody directed against the V3 loop of the protein. Analyses of the polyclonal sera, as well as of monoclonal antibodies produced in each case, allowed us to conclude that the quality of the humoral immune response depended on the complexation state of the antigen. For the free gp120 and gp120-CD4 complex the responses were directed mainly toward conformational epitopes. However, gp120 immunocomplexed with anti-V3 loop Mab produced, in addition, numerous MAbs directed toward linear epitopes. Epitopes were mapped using immunoblots of gp120 cleaved with S. aureus V8 protease and a combinatorial epitope phage-display library. It was found that some of the linear epitopes had been previously identified as T cell epitopes. These results suggest that the immunocomplexed gp120 may be particularly well taken up by antigen-presenting cells, leading to the processing of the gp120 and the efficient presentation of T cell epitopes. Thus immunocomplexation should afford a means for enhancing the immunogenicity of gp120 and improving its presentation.

Influence of N-linked glycans in V4-V5 region of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 glycoprotein gp160 on induction of a virus-neutralizing humoral response

One of the functions of N-linked glycans of viral glycoproteins is protecting otherwise accessible neutralization epitopes of the viral envelope from neutralizing antibodies. The aim of the present study was to explore the possibility to obtain a more broadly neutralizing immune response by immunizing guinea pigs with gp160 depleted of three N-linked glycans in the CD4-binding domain by site-directed mutagenesis. Mutant and wild type gp160 were formulated into immunostimulating complexes and injected s.c. into guinea pigs. Both preparations induced high serum antibody response to native gp120 and V3 peptides. Both preparations also induced antibodies that bound equally well to the V3 loop or the CD4-binding region, as determined by a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The sera from animals, immunized with mutated glycoprotein, did not neutralize nonrelated HIV strains better than did sera from animals, immunized with wild type glycoprotein. Instead, a pattern of preferred homologous neutralization was observed, i.e., sera from animals, immunized with mutant gp160, neutralized mutant virus better than wild type virus, and vice versa. These data indicated that elimination of the three N-linked glycans from gp160 resulted in an altered local antigenic conformation but did not uncover hidden neutralization epitopes, broadening the immune response.

Induction of homologous virus neutralizing antibodies in guinea-pigs immunized with two human immunodeficiency virus type 1 glycoprotein gp120-iscom preparations. A comparison with other adjuvant systems

The immunogenicity in guinea-pigs of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 envelope glycoprotein gp120 in immune stimulating complex (iscom) was compared to that of gp120 adjuvanted with QuilA-matrix (iscom without attached antigen), aluminium hydroxide (alum) and the Ribi adjuvant system. Gp120 was either incorporated into iscoms by covalent conjugation (iscom(c)) or by acid treatment of gp120 (iscom(a) and both these preparations induced high ELISA antibody titres to gp120. Virus neutralizing (VN) antibodies were most frequently induced by gp120 in iscom(c), iscom(a) or in alum and correlated to high titres to the V3-region of gp120. Further, antibodies induced by gp120-iscom(c) most efficiently inhibited binding of a VN monoclonal antibody GP13 to the CD4 binding region of gp120 whereas gp120-iscom(a) induced the highest mean titre of antibodies blocking the binding of [125I]gp120 to CD4. These results suggest that the gp120-iscom preparations efficiently induced high levels of gp120 specific antibodies and that the adjuvant formulation of gp120 affect the specificity and functional properties of elicited antibodies.

Hybrid human immunodeficiency virus Gag particles as an antigen carrier system: induction of cytotoxic T-cell and humoral responses by a Gag:V3 fusion

In attempts to increase the immunogenicity of recombinant antigens, a number of particulate antigen presentation systems have been developed. In this study, we used human immunodeficiency virus Gag particles as carriers for the human immunodeficiency virus envelope V3 region. Gag:V3 fusion proteins were expressed from baculovirus expression vectors; they migrated to the insect cell membrane and budded from the cells as hybrid particles. An immunization study carried out with rats showed that the particles elicited a strong anti-Gag antibody response and a weak antibody response to the V3 region. A strong anti-V3 cytolytic T-cell response was elicited in immunized mice. These data show that retroviral Gag particles can be used as antigen presentation vehicles.

Antigen-specific increases in the number of splenocytes expressing MHC class II molecules following restimulation with antigen in various physical forms

To understand how a presentation system for antigens initiates an immune response and why it has a strong adjuvant activity, a number of parameters need to be analysed. In this study the frequency of spleen cells expressing MHC class II (Ia antigen) was determined after immunization of mice and restimulation of their spleen cells, in vitro, with influenza virus envelope proteins in different physical forms, namely iscoms, micelles and virus particles. All three forms of the antigen stimulated, in an antigen-specific manner, an increased proportion of spleen cells expressing MHC class II in the restimulation experiments. The induction of increased MHC class II expression was at least partly dependent on antigen-specific induction of IFN-gamma since an antibody to IFN-gamma partly inhibited the increase of MHC class II+ cells induced by iscom or by Concanavalin A. The iscom-borne antigens were superior to micelles to prime the immune response in vitro, indicating a capacity to induce memory cells. This primed immune response was readily recalled in vitro, as measured by IFN-gamma production and an increased number of MHC class II positive cells.

Studies on the role of the V3 loop in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 envelope glycoprotein function

Mutations within the principal neutralizing determinant (the V3 loop) of the HIV-1 surface envelope glycoprotein gp120 block or greatly reduce the ability of the HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein to induce cell fusion in CD4+ HeLa T4 cells while keeping its CD4 binding ability. However, when either cysteine or both cysteines forming the V3 disulfide bridge were mutated, the resultant glycoprotein could not mediate cell fusion, undergo proteolytic processing, or bind CD4. To investigate the role that the V3 loop plays in gp160 processing and CD4 binding, we deleted the entire V3 loop region of the HIV-1 env gene. The resultant glycoprotein could not mediate cell fusion in the HeLa T4 cell line and no proteolytic processing of gp160 or CD4 binding could be detected. To test whether any domain of the V3 loop is involved in attaining the proper envelope glycoprotein conformation required for proteolytic processing and CD4 binding, we introduced a series of deletions into the coding region of the V3 loop. Most of the residues within the V3 loop could be removed while retaining gp160 processing and CD4 binding. Our results indicate that the cysteines that form the V3 loop or the disulfide bond itself are important for proper envelope glycoprotein folding and processing. Because many of the mutants constructed in this study do not contain the type-specific neutralizing determinant of HIV-1, they may be potential reagents to bind group-specific neutralizing antibodies or to elicit a group-specific neutralizing response against HIV-1.