Immunocytochemical determination of antigen and epitope specificity of HIV-1-specific B cells in lymph-node biopsies from HIV-1-infected individuals.
Knowledge about B-cell dysfunction and HIV-specific antibody production is necessary for the understanding of both HIV-1-related immunopathology and the (vaccine-induced) humoral immunity involved in protection against AIDS. This paper describes the application of recently developed methods to detect epitope specificity of B cells in lymph-node biopsies with antigen-enzyme conjugates. Cryosections of five lymph-node biopsies from HIV-1-infected individuals and four control tissues were stained with a panel of HIV-1 antigen-enzyme conjugates: recombinant HIV-1 proteins (gp 160, gp 120 and p24), labelled with peroxidase, and synthetic peptides representing neutralizing epitopes from gp120 and gp41, labelled with alkaline phosphatase. Antibody-forming cells (AFCs) were detected in all the HIV-1-infected biopsies with gp160, gp120 and/or p24, in numbers up to 350 per section. AFCs producing specific antibodies against peptide 101 (SP 101), representing the neutralizing epitope 586-608 of gp41, were detected in one patient. These techniques allow correlation of in vivo function of B cells with lymph-node pathology, clinical stage of the disease and serological data. Their potential for the elucidation of HIV-related immunopathogenesis and the development of vaccines is discussed.
Laman
J D
JD
TNO Medical Biological Laboratory, Rijswijk, The Netherlands.
Rácz
P
P
Tenner-Rácz
K
K
Klasmeier
M
M
Fasbender
M J
MJ
Neelen
C
C
Zegers
N D
ND
Dietrich
M
M
Boersma
W J
WJ
Claassen
E
E
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D001706:Biopsy; D000939:Epitopes / Q000276:immunology*; D015483:HIV Antibodies / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000276:immunology; D015488:HIV Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology*; D006735:Horseradish Peroxidase; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000276:immunology; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D012191:Retroviridae Proteins / Q000276:immunology
D000939:Epitopes; D015483:HIV Antibodies; D015488:HIV Antigens; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D012191:Retroviridae Proteins; D006735:Horseradish Peroxidase