title: Comparisons of the genetic and neutralization properties of HIV-1 subtype C and CRF07/08_BC env molecular clones isolated from infections in China.
abstract: Subtype C is the most prevalent HIV-1 subtype globally and a common circulating recombinant form virus, CRF_BC, is predominant in China. It is unclear whether subtype C-based vaccines are capable of neutralizing CRF_BC viruses or can be evaluated using a neutralization assay based on CRF_BC pseudoviruses. Phylogenetic analysis of full-length gp160 nucleotide sequences showed that 37 functional env clones formed two unique clusters. The 30 clones belonged to 07_BC and seven clones 08_BC. Increased length in gp120 was found in 07_BC clones when compared to subtype C and 08_BC clones. The subtype BC clones had more PNLG sites on gp160, and 08_BC had more PNLG sites in the V5 region than subtype C. However, the number of PNLG sites in the C4 region of 07_BC was less than subtype C. The neutralization properties of Env-pseudovirus were analyzed against HIV-positive plasma panels belonging to three subtypes: BC, B and AE. Subtype BC pseudoviruses had higher sensitivities to all the three plasma panels than subtype C viruses. CRF07_BC clones were the most sensitive to subtype BC antibodies, regardless of whether the CRF07_plasma panel or CRF08_BC were used. Heatmap analyses of inhibition ratios showed that clones in this study were antigenically diverse despite being genetic similarity. Thus, genetic and neutralization properties of HIV CRF07/08_BC Env isolates predominating in China show different properties than those of subtype C. These findings are likely to provide useful information for the design and evaluation of HIV-1 neutralizing antibody-based vaccine development in China.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular Biology, National Institute for the Control of Pharmaceutical and Biological Products, No. 2 Tiantanxili, Beijing 100050, China.
authors.forename: Suting
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jianhui
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nie
authors.forename: Youchun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D057134:Antibodies, Neutralizing / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D002681:China; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D056738:Cross Protection; D003429:Cross Reactions; D005838:Genotype; D015483:HIV Antibodies / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000821:virology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D054299:env Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D057134:Antibodies, Neutralizing; D015483:HIV Antibodies; D054299:env Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus