title: Neutralizing antibody responses in acute human immunodeficiency virus type 1 subtype C infection.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: AIDS Virus Research Unit, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, Private Bag X4, Sandringham 2131, Johannesburg, South Africa.
authors.forename: E S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Gray
authors.forename: P L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.forename: I A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Choge
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Decker
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bibollet-Ruche
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Leseka
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Treurnicht
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mlisana
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Shaw
authors.forename: S S Abdool
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Karim
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Williamson
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Morris
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D000939:Epitopes