Discordant memory B cell and circulating anti-Env antibody responses in HIV-1 infection.
Long-lived memory B cells (B(Mem)) provide an archive of historic Ab responses. By contrast, circulating Abs typically decline once the immunogen is cleared. Consequently, circulating Abs can underestimate the nature of cognate humoral immunity. On the other hand, the B(Mem) pool should provide a comprehensive picture of Ab specificities that arise over the entire course of infection. To test this hypothesis, we compared circulating Ab and B(Mem) from natural virus suppressors who control HIV-1 without therapy and maintain a relatively intact immune system. We found high frequencies of B(Mem) specific for the conserved neutralizing CD4 induced or CD4 binding site epitopes of gp120, whereas low Ab titers to these determinants were detected in contemporaneous plasma. These data suggest that plasma Ab repertoires can underestimate the breadth of humoral immunity, and analyses of B(Mem) should be included in studies correlating Ab specificity with protective immunity to HIV-1.
Guan
Yongjun
Y
Division of Basic Science, Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
Sajadi
Mohammad M
MM
Kamin-Lewis
Roberta
R
Fouts
Timothy R
TR
Dimitrov
Anthony
A
Zhang
Zhixin
Z
Redfield
Robert R
RR
DeVico
Anthony L
AL
Gallo
Robert C
RC
Lewis
George K
GK
D000917:Antibody Formation / Q000276:immunology*; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D015704:CD4 Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D000939:Epitopes / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D015483:HIV Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D015699:HIV Envelope Protein gp120 / Q000276:immunology*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007156:Immunologic Memory / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009500:Neutralization Tests; D014019:Tissue Donors; D017186:Titrimetry
D015704:CD4 Antigens; D000939:Epitopes; D015483:HIV Antibodies; D015699:HIV Envelope Protein gp120