Neutralizing antibody responses in acute human immunodeficiency virus type 1 subtype C infection.
The study of the evolution and specificities of neutralizing antibodies during the course of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection may be important in the discovery of possible targets for vaccine design. In this study, we assessed the autologous and heterologous neutralization responses of 14 HIV-1 subtype C-infected individuals, using envelope clones obtained within the first 2 months postinfection. Our data show that potent but relatively strain-specific neutralizing antibodies develop within 3 to 12 months of HIV-1 infection. The magnitude of this response was associated with shorter V1-to-V5 envelope lengths and fewer glycosylation sites, particularly in the V1-V2 region. Anti-MPER antibodies were detected in 4 of 14 individuals within a year of infection, while antibodies to CD4-induced (CD4i) epitopes developed to high titers in 12 participants, in most cases before the development of autologous neutralizing antibodies. However, neither anti-MPER nor anti-CD4i antibody specificity conferred neutralization breadth. These data provide insights into the kinetics, potency, breadth, and epitope specificity of neutralizing antibody responses in acute HIV-1 subtype C infection.
Gray
E S
ES
AIDS Virus Research Unit, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, Private Bag X4, Sandringham 2131, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Moore
P L
PL
Choge
I A
IA
Decker
J M
JM
Bibollet-Ruche
F
F
Li
H
H
Leseka
N
N
Treurnicht
F
F
Mlisana
K
K
Shaw
G M
GM
Karim
S S Abdool
SS
Williamson
C
C
Morris
L
L
D000208:Acute Disease; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000917:Antibody Formation; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D000939:Epitopes / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D006031:Glycosylation; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D015498:HIV-2 / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009500:Neutralization Tests; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
D000939:Epitopes