Improved induction of antibodies against key neutralizing epitopes by human immunodeficiency virus type 1 gp120 DNA prime-protein boost vaccination compared to gp120 protein-only vaccination.
A major challenge in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) vaccine development is to elicit potent and broadly neutralizing antibodies that are effective against primary viral isolates. Previously, we showed that DNA prime-protein boost vaccination using HIV-1 gp120 antigens was more effective in eliciting neutralizing antibodies against primary HIV-1 isolates than was a recombinant gp120 protein-only vaccination approach. In the current study, we analyzed the difference in antibody specificities in rabbit sera elicited by these two immunization regimens using peptide enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and a competitive virus capture assay. Our results indicate that a DNA prime-protein boost regimen is more effective than a protein-alone vaccination approach in inducing antibodies that target two key neutralizing domains: the V3 loop and the CD4 binding site. In particular, positive antibodies targeting several peptides that overlap with the known CD4 binding area were detected only in DNA-primed sera. Different profiles of antibody specificities provide insight into the mechanisms behind the elicitation of better neutralizing antibodies with the DNA prime-protein boost approach, and our results support the use of this approach to further optimize Env formulations for HIV vaccine development.
Vaine
Michael
M
Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA 01655, USA.
Wang
Shixia
S
Crooks
Emma T
ET
Jiang
Pengfei
P
Montefiori
David C
DC
Binley
James
J
Lu
Shan
S
D016915:AIDS Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000276:immunology*; D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D000939:Epitopes / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D015699:HIV Envelope Protein gp120 / Q000276:immunology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology; D007117:Immunization, Secondary; D008958:Models, Molecular; D009500:Neutralization Tests; D011817:Rabbits; D019444:Vaccines, DNA / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000276:immunology*; D022223:Vaccines, Subunit / Q000276:immunology; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic / Q000276:immunology
D016915:AIDS Vaccines; D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D000939:Epitopes; D015699:HIV Envelope Protein gp120; D019444:Vaccines, DNA; D022223:Vaccines, Subunit; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic; C514793:gp120 protein, Human immunodeficiency virus 1