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Phenotypic and Immunologic Comparison of Clade B Transmitted/Founder and Chronic HIV-1 Envelope Glycoproteins
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Phenotypic and Immunologic Comparison of Clade B Transmitted/Founder and Chronic HIV-1 Envelope Glycoproteins

Craig B Wilen, Nicholas F Parrish, Jennifer M Pfaff, Julie M Decker, Elizabeth A Henning, Hillel Haim, Josiah E Petersen, Jason A Wojcechowskyj, Joseph Sodroski, Barton F Haynes, …
Journal of virology, Vol.85(17), pp.8514-8527
09/2011
DOI: 10.1128/JVI.00736-11
PMCID: PMC3165820
PMID: 21715507
url
https://doi.org/10.1128/JVI.00736-11View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

Sexual transmission of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) across mucosal barriers is responsible for the vast majority of new infections. This relatively inefficient process results in the transmission of a single transmitted/founder (T/F) virus, from a diverse viral swarm in the donor, in approximately 80% of cases. Here we compared the biological activities of 24 clade B T/F envelopes (Envs) with those from 17 chronic controls to determine whether the genetic bottleneck that occurs during transmission is linked to a particular Env phenotype. To maximize the likelihood of an intact mucosal barrier in the recipients and to enhance the sensitivity of detecting phenotypic differences, only T/F Envs from individuals infected with a single T/F variant were selected. Using pseudotyping to assess Env function in single-round infectivity assays, we compared coreceptor tropism, CCR5 utilization efficiencies, primary CD4 + T cell subset tropism, dendritic cell trans -infections, fusion kinetics, and neutralization sensitivities. T/F and chronic Envs were phenotypically equivalent in most assays; however, T/F Envs were modestly more sensitive to CD4 binding site antibodies b12 and VRC01, as well as pooled human HIV Ig. This finding was independently validated with a panel of 14 additional chronic HIV-1 Env controls. Moreover, the enhanced neutralization sensitivity was associated with more efficient binding of b12 and VRC01 to T/F Env trimers. These data suggest that there are subtle but significant structural differences between T/F and chronic clade B Envs that may have implications for HIV-1 transmission and the design of effective vaccines.
Pathogenesis and Immunity

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