title: HIV type 1 subtype A envelope genetic evolution in a slow progressing individual with consistent broadly neutralizing antibodies.
abstract: Studies of viruses taken from individuals with broad cross-neutralizing antibodies against primary isolates may reveal novel antibody specificities and their associated epitopes that could be useful for immunogen design. We report on the Env antigenic variability of a slow progressing HIV-1 subtype A-infected donor with consistent broad cross-neutralizing antibodies during the second decade of disease progression after vertical transmission. The Env evolution is characterized by a genetic shift to variants with altered V1-V5 loop sequences, marked by consecutive changes in V1, V4-V5, and C3 and largely conserved V2 and V3 loop sequences. Major V1 Env sequence expansion, variation by a duplication event, and cumulative addition of cysteine residues and potential N-glycosylation sites over time may contribute to escape from antibody pressure directed to Env receptor domains by changing the exposure of neutralization-sensitive epitopes. Conservation of functional epitopes may correlate with the continued presence of broad cross-neutralizing antibodies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Unit of Virology, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium. tdieltjens@itg.be
authors.forename: Tessa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dieltjens
authors.forename: Nathalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Loots
authors.forename: Katleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Vereecken
authors.forename: Katrijn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Grupping
authors.forename: Leo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Heyndrickx
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bottieau
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vanham
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: Wouter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Janssens
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D057134:Antibodies, Neutralizing / Q000097:blood*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D020276:HIV Long-Term Survivors; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009500:Neutralization Tests; D010802:Phylogeny; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D054299:env Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D057134:Antibodies, Neutralizing; D054299:env Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus