Design of immunogens that present the crown of the HIV-1 V3 loop in a conformation competent to generate 447-52D-like antibodies.

ABSTRACT: gp120 is a subunit of the envelope glycoprotein of HIV-1. The third variable loop region of gp120 (V3 loop) contains multiple immunodominant epitopes and is also functionally important for deciding cell-tropism of the virus. 447-52D is a monoclonal antibody that recognizes the conserved tip of the V3 loop in a beta-turn conformation. This antibody has previously been shown to neutralize diverse strains of the virus. In an attempt to generate an immunogen competent to generate 447-52D-like antibodies, the known epitope of 447-52D was inserted at three different surface loop locations in the small, stable protein Escherichia coli Trx (thioredoxin). At one of the three locations (between residues 74 and 75), the insertion was tolerated, the resulting protein was stable and soluble, and bound

SUBMITTER: Chakraborty K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1615908 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature