Prevention of HIV-1 infection in chimpanzees by gp120 V3 domain-specific monoclonal antibody.

The acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is the late-stage clinical manifestation of long-term persistent infection with the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). Immune responses directed against the virus and against virus-infected cells during the persistent infection fail to mediate resolution of the infection. As a result, a successful AIDS vaccine must elicit an immune state that will prevent the establishment of the persistent infection following introduction of the virus into the host. The third hypervariable (V3) domain of the HIV-1 gp120 envelope glycoprotein is a disulphide-linked closed loop of about 30 amino acids which binds and elicits anti-HIV-1 type-specific virus-neutralizing antibodies. The in vitro characteristics of anti-V3 domain antibody suggest that this antibody could by itself prevent HIV-1 infection in vivo, an idea supported by chimpanzee challenge studies in which protection against the HIV-1 persistent infection seemed to correlate with the presence of anti-V3 domain antibody. Here we directly demonstrate the protective efficacy of anti-V3 domain antibody in vivo and propose that this antibody is potentially useful as both a pre- and post-exposure prophylactic agent.     

Vaccine protection against acquisition of neutralization-resistant SIV challenges in rhesus monkeys

Preclinical studies of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) vaccine candidates have typically shown post-infection virological control, but protection against acquisition of infection has previously only been reported against neutralization-sensitive virus challenges. Here we demonstrate vaccine protection against acquisition of fully heterologous, neutralization-resistant simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) challenges in rhesus monkeys. Adenovirus/poxvirus and adenovirus/adenovirus-vector-based vaccines expressing SIV(SME543) Gag, Pol and Env antigens resulted in an 80% or greater reduction in the per-exposure probability of infection against repetitive, intrarectal SIV(MAC251) challenges in rhesus monkeys. Protection against acquisition of infection showed distinct immunological correlates compared with post-infection virological control and required the inclusion of Env in the vaccine regimen. These data demonstrate the proof-of-concept that optimized HIV-1 vaccine candidates can block acquisition of stringent, heterologous, neutralization-resistant virus challenges in rhesus monkeys.     

Protection of chimpanzees from infection by HIV-1 after vaccination with recombinant glycoprotein gp120 but not gp160

The development of a vaccine to provide protective immunity to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), the virus causing AIDS, would be the most practical method to control its spread. Subunit vaccines consisting of virus envelope glycoproteins, produced by recombinant DNA technology, are effective in preventing viral infections. We have now used this approach in the development of a candidate AIDS vaccine. Chimpanzees were immunized with recombinant forms of the HIV-1 glycoproteins gp120 and gp160 produced in Chinese hamster ovary cells, and then challenged with HIV-1. The control and the two animals immunized with the gp160 variant became infected within 7 weeks of challenge. The two animals immunized with the gp120 variant have shown no signs of infection after more than 6 months. These studies demonstrate that recombinant gp120, formulated in an adjuvant approved for human use, can elicit protective immunity against a homologous strain of HIV-1.     

Mechanism of hmnan immunodeficiency virus type I entry into the target cells

Based on the recent advances of the research on the mechanism of HIV-1 infection, a novel model to elucidate the mechanism of HIV entry into the target cells is proposed and the perspective about the putative receptor is discussed in this review. Understanding of the crystal structure of HIV-1 transmembrane protein gp41 and the functions of HIV-1 receptor, co-receptor and the putative receptor will lead to developing effective HIV vaccine and anti-HIVdrugs.     

Mechanism of human immunodeficiency virus type I entry into the target cells

Based on the recent advances of the research on the mechanism of HIV-1 infection, a novel model to elucidate the mechanism of HIV entry into the target cells is proposed and the perspective about the putative receptor is discussed in this review. Understanding of the crystal structure of HIV-1 transmembrane protein gp41 and the functions of HIV-1 receptor, co-receptor and the putative receptor will lead to developing effective HIV vaccine and anti-HIV drugs.     

Prevention of HIV-2 and SIVsm infection by passive immunization in cynomolgus monkeys.

Infection of macaques with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) and human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2) are useful models for studies of immunotherapy and vaccination against HIV as well as for testing of antiviral drugs. Vaccine research showing protective immunity in immunized monkeys has indicated that it will be possible to develop a vaccine for prevention of human HIV infection, although many hurdles remain. The design of an HIV vaccine would be helped if the basis of the protective immunity could be elucidated. Passive immune prophylaxis offers a means to determine the relative role of antibodies in protection against infection. We have studied whether a transfer of antibodies can prevent HIV-2 and SIVsm (SIV of sooty mangabey origin) infection in cynomolgus monkeys. Sera with high antibody titres were collected, heat-treated and injected into naive animals 6 h before challenge with 10-100 monkey-infectious doses of live homologous virus. All control animals treated with normal monkey serum (n = 6) or no serum (n = 39) became infected by the challenge virus, whereas five out of seven animals pretreated with antibody-containing serum at a dose of 9 ml kg-1 resisted infection. Thus passively transferred antibodies can protect against a low-dose lentivirus challenge in a nonhuman primate.     

Infection of rabbits with human immunodeficiency virus

An important requirement for the development of a vaccine against the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1), the causative agent of AIDS, is a readily available animal model that would allow possible immunogens to be evaluated. The only species to have been infected with HIV-1 so far is the chimpanzee. However, the scarcity of this animal and its designation as an endangered species place severe restrictions on its use as an animal model. Attempts to infect mice, rats, hamsters, guinea-pigs, musk shrews, and rabbits with HIV-1 or infected cells have all been unsuccessful. We now report that the intraperitoneal inoculation of rabbits with HIV-1 or chronically infected H9 cells consistently induces a persistent infection.     

HIV-1 superinfection despite broad CD8+ T-cell responses containing replication of the primary virus

Early treatment of acute HIV-1 infection followed by treatment interruptions has shown promise for enhancing immune control of infection. A subsequent loss of control, however, allows the correlates of protective immunity to be assessed. Here we show that sudden breakthrough of plasma viraemia occurred after prolonged immune containment in an individual infected with HIV-1 at a time when 25 distinct CD8+ T-cell epitopes in the viral proteins Gag, RT, Integrase, Env, Nef, Vpr, Vif and Rev were being targeted. Sequencing of the virus in plasma and cells showed that superinfection with a second clade-B virus was coincident with the loss of immune control. This sudden increase in viraemia was associated with a decline in half of the CD8+ T-cell responses. The declining CD8+ T-cell responses were coupled with sequence changes relative to the initial virus that resulted in impaired recognition. Our data show that HIV-1 superinfection can occur in the setting of a strong and broadly directed virus-specific CD8+ T-cell response. The lack of cross-protective immunity for closely related HIV-1 strains, despite persistent recognition of multiple CD8 epitopes, has important implications for public health and vaccine development.     

Macrophage and T cell-line tropisms of HIV-1 are determined by specific regions of the envelope gp120 gene

Strains of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) display a high degree of biological heterogeneity which may be linked to certain clinical manifestation of AIDS. They vary in their ability to infect different cell types, to replicate rapidly and to high titre in culture, to down-modulate the CD4 receptor, and to cause cytopathic changes in infected cells. Some of these in vitro properties correlate with pathogenicity of the virus in vivo. To map the viral determinants of the cellular host range of HIV-1, recombinant viruses were generated between biologically active molecular clones of HIV-1 isolates showing differences in infection of primary peripheral blood macrophages and established T-cell lines. We report here that a specific region of the envelope gp120 gene representing 159 amino-acid residues of glycoprotein gp120 seems to determine macrophage tropism, whereas an overlapping region representing 321 amino-acid residues determines T cell-line tropism. These studies provide a basis for relating functional domains of the HIV-1 env gene to pathogenic potential.     

An engineered poliovirus chimaera elicits broadly reactive HIV-1 neutralizing antibodies

The Sabin type 1 vaccine strain of poliovirus is probably the safest and most successful live-attenuated vaccine virus used in humans. Its widespread use since the early 1960s has contributed significantly to the virtual eradication of poliomyelitis in developed countries. We have reported previously the construction of an intertypic antigen chimaera of poliovirus, based on the Sabin 1 strain, and proposed that this virus could be modified to express on its surface antigenic determinants from other pathogens. We describe here the construction and characterization of a poliovirus antigen chimaera containing an epitope from the transmembrane glycoprotein (gp41) of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). In antibody absorption experiments, the virus chimaera inhibited neutralization of HIV-1 by antipeptide monoclonal antibodies specific for the gp41 epitope and significantly reduced the group specific neutralizing activity of HIV-1-positive human sera. Rabbit antisera raised by subcutaneous injection of the polio/HIV chimaera in adjuvant was shown to be specific for HIV-1 gp41 in peptide-binding assays and by western blotting. Moreover, the antisera neutralized a wide range of American and African HIV-1 isolates and also inhibited virus-induced cell fusion. Monoclonal antibodies against the HIV-1 derived regions of the chimaera also neutralized HIV-1. These results establish the potential of using poliovirus for the presentation of foreign antigens and suggest that Sabin 1 poliovirus/HIV chimaeras could offer an approach to the development of an HIV vaccine.     

HIV-1感染与树突状细胞相互作用的研究进展(综述)

树突状细胞(dendritic cells，DC)是目前所知的机体内功能最强的抗原呈递细胞，在免疫应答中发挥重要作用。在AIDS发病机制中有关人类免疫缺陷病毒(HIV)与宿主细胞之间的作用已经有很多报道，但对树突状细胞与HIV感染之间的作用了解较少。近年来的研究发现HIV-1能诱导树突状细胞分化，改编细胞基因表达，上调细胞因子和趋化因子的产生活化T细胞，而不同的DC亚群表达不同的甘露糖C-型凝集素受体(MCLRs)结合HIVgp120，从而促进病毒感染复制和扩散。     

Immune responses of a designed HIV-1 DNA vaccine on rhesus monkeys

According to the UNAIDS/WHO report (http:// www.unaids.org/Epi2005/doc/report.html), there are about 40.3 million HIV/AIDS survivors, and the new HIV infection number amounts to about 4.9 million, while the death number is some 3.1 million in the world in…     

Immune control of an SIV challenge by a T-cell-based vaccine in rhesus monkeys

A recombinant adenovirus serotype 5 (rAd5) vector-based vaccine for HIV-1 has recently failed in a phase 2b efficacy study in humans. Consistent with these results, preclinical studies have demonstrated that rAd5 vectors expressing simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) Gag failed to reduce peak or setpoint viral loads after SIV challenge of rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) that lacked the protective MHC class I allele Mamu-A*01 (ref. 3). Here we show that an improved T-cell-based vaccine regimen using two serologically distinct adenovirus vectors afforded substantially improved protective efficacy in this challenge model. In particular, a heterologous rAd26 prime/rAd5 boost vaccine regimen expressing SIV Gag elicited cellular immune responses with augmented magnitude, breadth and polyfunctionality as compared with the homologous rAd5 regimen. After SIV(MAC251) challenge, monkeys vaccinated with the rAd26/rAd5 regimen showed a 1.4 log reduction of peak and a 2.4 log reduction of setpoint viral loads as well as decreased AIDS-related mortality as compared with control animals. These data demonstrate that durable partial immune control of a pathogenic SIV challenge for more than 500 days can be achieved by a T-cell-based vaccine in Mamu-A*01-negative rhesus monkeys in the absence of a homologous Env antigen. These findings have important implications for the development of next-generation T-cell-based vaccine candidates for HIV-1.     

HIV-1 Nef intersects the macrophage CD40L signalling pathway to promote resting-cell infection

All primate lentiviruses (HIV-1, HIV-2, SIV) encode Nef proteins, which are important for viral replication and pathogenicity in vivo. It is not known how Nef regulates these processes. It has been suggested that Nef protects infected cells from apoptosis and recognition by cytotoxic T lymphocytes. Other studies suggest that Nef influences the activation state of the infected cell, thereby enhancing the ability of that cell to support viral replication. Here we show that macrophages that express Nef or are stimulated through the CD40 receptor release a paracrine factor that renders T lymphocytes permissive to HIV-1 infection. This activity requires the upregulation of B-cell receptors involved in the alternative pathway of T-lymphocyte stimulation. T lymphocytes stimulated through this pathway become susceptible to viral infection without progressing through the cell cycle. We identify two proteins, soluble CD23 and soluble ICAM, that are induced from macrophages by Nef and CD40L, and which mediate their effects on lymphocyte permissivity. Our results reveal a mechanism by which Nef expands the cellular reservoir of HIV-1 by permitting the infection of resting T lymphocytes.     

Distribution and three-dimensional structure of AIDS virus envelope spikes

Envelope glycoprotein (Env) spikes on AIDS retroviruses initiate infection of host cells and are therefore targets for vaccine development. Though crystal structures for partial Env subunits are known, the structure and distribution of native Env spikes on virions is obscure. We applied cryoelectron microscopy tomography to define ultrastructural details of spikes. Virions of wild-type human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) and a mutant simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) had approximately 14 and approximately 73 spikes per particle, respectively, with some clustering of HIV-1 spikes. Three-dimensional averaging showed that the surface glycoprotein (gp120) 'head' of each subunit of the trimeric SIV spike contains a primary mass, with two secondary lobes. The transmembrane glycoprotein 'stalk' of each trimer is composed of three independent legs that project obliquely from the trimer head, tripod-like. Reconciling available atomic structures with the three-dimensional whole spike density map yields insights into the orientation of Env spike structural elements and possible structural bases of their functions.     

Structural characteristics and biological functions of the HIV-1 gp120 V3 region

Recent studies demonstrate that the V3 loop of HIV-1 gp120 plays an important role in the attachment of HIV-1 to the target cells. Several amino acids in this domain are involved in the interaction of gp120 with the co-receptors. The V3 loop elicits one of the earliest antiviral antibody responses in HIV-1 infection and has been identified as the principal neutralizing determinant (PND). A subset of antibodies to V3 loop show a broad range of neutralizing activity. Unfortunately, this loop undergoes broad mutation and is one of the hypervariable regions. Mutations of some amino acids in this PND could affect syncytium formation, virus infectivity and neutralization. Knowing the structural characteristics and biological functions of the V3 region could help us to understand mechanism of HIV infection and to develop new strategy against HIV-1. In this review, the structural characteristics, variation and biological functions of the V3 loop as well as immunological responses to the V3 loop are discussed.     

Biological function of H1V-1 transmembrane protein gp41

Since 1992, the study of biological functions of HIV-1 gp41 has made great progress. Experimental evidence from several research groups demonstrated that gp41 has a putative cellular receptor. A recombinant soluble gp41 (aa539–684) and gp41 immunosuppressive peptide (aa583–599) could bind to human B lymphocytes and monocytes, but weakly bind to T lymphocytes. It was found that gp41 contains two cellular binding sites (aa583–599 and 641–675). GP41 could selectively inhibit cell proliferation of human T, B lymphocytes and monocytes, enhance human MHC class I, II and ICAM-1 molecule expression on cell surface. Gp41 binding proteins and a monoclonal antibody against the first binding site could inhibit this modulation effect. Amino acid sequence homology exists between gp41 and human type I interferons, and the homologous region is located in the first binding site on gp41 and in the receptor binding site on type I interferons. Studies in other groups indicate that both binding sites in gp41 may be associated with HIV infection of cells. Peptides containing two binding sites could respectively inhibit HIV infection of cells. A monoclonal antibody recognizing the second binding site could neutralize lab-strains and recently separated strains of HIV-1. Besides, antibodies against two regions (homologous with gp41 binding sites) of SIV transmembrane protein gp32 could protect macaques from SIV infection. These results suggest that the study of gp41 binding sites and cellular receptor could contribute to understanding the mechanism of HIV infection and to developing HIV vaccine and anti-HIV drugs.     

Biological function of HIV-1 transmembrane protein gp41──A study on a putative cellular receptor of gp41

Since 1992, the study of biological functions of HIV-1 gp41 has made great progress. Experimental evidence from several research groups demonstrated that gp41 has a putative cellular receptor. A recombinant soluble gp41 (aa539-684) and gp41 immunosuppressive peptide (aa583-599) could bind to human B lymphocytes and monocytes, but weakly bind to T lymphocytes. It was found that gp41 contains two cellular binding sites (aa583-599 and 641-675). GP41 could selectively inhibit cell proliferation of human T, B lymphocytes and monocytes, enhance human MHC class Ⅰ, Ⅱ and ICAM-1 molecule expression on cell surface. Gp41 binding proteins and a monoclonal antibody against the first binding site could inhibit this modulation effect. Amino acid sequence homology exists between gp41 and human type Ⅰ interferons, and the homologous region is located in the first binding site on gp41 and in the receptor binding site on type Ⅰ interferons. Studies in other groups indicate that both binding sites in gp41 may be associated with HIV infection of cells. Peptides containing two binding sites could respectively inhibit HIV infection of cells. A monoclonal antibody recognizing the second binding site could neutralize lab-strains and recently separated strains of HIV-1. Besides, antibodies against two regions (homologous with gp41 binding sites) of SIV transmembrane protein gp32 could protect macaques from SIV infection. These results suggest that the study of gp41 binding sites and cellular receptor could contribute to understanding the mechanism of HIV infection and to developing HIV vaccine and anti-HIV drugs.     

Soluble CD4 blocks the infectivity of diverse strains of HIV and SIV for T cells and monocytes but not for brain and muscle cells

The CD4 antigen has been subverted as a receptor by the human and simian immunodeficiency viruses (HIV-1, HIV-2 and SIV). Several groups have reported that recombinant, soluble forms of the CD4 molecule (sCD4) block the infection of T lymphocytes by HIV-1, as CD4 binds the HIV envelope glycoprotein, gp120, with high affinity. We now report that sCD4 blocks diverse strains of HIV-1, HIV-2 and SIV, but is less effective for HIV-2. The blocking effect is apparent even after adsorption of virions to CD4 cells. Soluble CD4 prevents HIV infection of T-lymphocytic and myelomonocytic cell lines, but neither sCD4 nor anti-CD4 antibodies inhibit infection of glioma and rhabdomyosarcoma cell lines.