Project description:Antibody 2G12 uniquely neutralizes a broad range of HIV-1 isolates by binding the high-mannose glycans on the HIV-1 surface glycoprotein, gp120. Antigens that resemble these natural epitopes of 2G12 would be highly desirable components for an HIV-1 vaccine. However, host-produced (self)-carbohydrate motifs have been unsuccessful so far at eliciting 2G12-like antibodies that cross-react with gp120. Based on the surprising observation that 2G12 binds nonproteinaceous monosaccharide D-fructose with higher affinity than D-mannose, we show here that a designed set of nonself, synthetic monosaccharides are potent antigens. When introduced to the terminus of the D1 arm of protein glycans recognized by 2G12, their antigenicity is significantly enhanced. Logical variation of these unnatural sugars pinpointed key modifications, and the molecular basis of this increased antigenicity was elucidated using high-resolution crystallographic analyses. Virus-like particle protein conjugates containing such nonself glycans are bound more tightly by 2G12. As immunogens they elicit higher titers of antibodies than those immunogenic conjugates containing the self D1 glycan motif. These antibodies generated from nonself immunogens also cross-react with this self motif, which is found in the glycan shield, when it is presented in a range of different conjugates and glycans. However, these antibodies did not bind this glycan motif when present on gp120.
Project description:MAb 2G12 neutralizes HIV-1 by binding with high affinity to a cluster of high-mannose oligosaccharides on the envelope glycoprotein, gp120. Screening of phage-displayed peptide libraries with 2G12 identified peptides that bind specifically, with K(d)s ranging from 0.4 to 200 microM. The crystal structure of a 21-mer peptide ligand in complex with 2G12 Fab was determined at 2.8 A resolution. Comparison of this structure with previous structures of 2G12-carbohydrate complexes revealed striking differences in the mechanism of 2G12 binding to peptide vs. carbohydrate. The peptide occupies a site different from, but adjacent to, the primary carbohydrate-binding site on 2G12, and makes only slightly fewer contacts to the Fab than Man(9)GlcNAc(2) (51 vs. 56, respectively). However, only two antibody contacts with the peptide are hydrogen bonds in contrast to six with Man(9)GlcNAc(2), and only three of the antibody residues that interact with Man(9)GlcNAc(2) also contact the peptide. Thus, this mechanism of peptide binding to 2G12 does not support structural mimicry of the native carbohydrate epitope on gp120, since it neither replicates the oligosaccharide footprint on the antibody nor most of the contact residues. Moreover, 2G12.1 peptide is not an immunogenic mimic of the 2G12 epitope, since antisera produced against it did not bind gp120.
Project description:Immunologically, "self" carbohydrates protect the HIV-1 surface glycoprotein, gp120, from antibody recognition. However, one broadly neutralizing antibody, 2G12, neutralizes primary viral isolates by direct recognition of Manalpha1-->2Man motifs formed by the host-derived oligomannose glycans of the viral envelope. Immunogens, capable of eliciting antibodies of similar specificity to 2G12, are therefore candidates for HIV/AIDS vaccine development. In this context, it is known that the yeast mannan polysaccharides exhibit significant antigenic mimicry with the glycans of HIV-1. Here, we report that modulation of yeast polysaccharide biosynthesis directly controls the molecular specificity of cross-reactive antibodies to self oligomannose glycans. Saccharomyces cerevisiae mannans are typically terminated by alpha1-->3-linked mannoses that cap a Manalpha1-->2Man motif that otherwise closely resembles the part of the oligomannose epitope recognized by 2G12. Immunization with S. cerevisiae deficient for the alpha1-->3 mannosyltransferase gene (DeltaMnn1), but not with wild-type S. cerevisiae, reproducibly elicited antibodies to the self oligomannose glycans. Carbohydrate microarray analysis of DeltaMnn1 immune sera revealed fine carbohydrate specificity to Manalpha1-->2Man units, closely matching that of 2G12. These specificities were further corroborated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with chemically defined glycoforms of gp120. These antibodies exhibited remarkable similarity in the carbohydrate specificity to 2G12 and displayed statistically significant, albeit extremely weak, neutralization of HIV-1 compared to control immune sera. These data confirm the Manalpha1-->2Man motif as the primary carbohydrate neutralization determinant of HIV-1 and show that the genetic modulation of microbial polysaccharides is a route towards immunogens capable of eliciting antibody responses to the glycans of HIV-1.
Project description:A fully synthetic trivalent mimotope of gp120 conjugated to pan allelic HLA DR binding epitope was prepared using solid-phase peptide synthesis and optimized copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition. The methodology efficiently provides chemically uniform heteromultimeric peptide constructs with enhanced binding, avidity, and specificity toward an established HIV-neutralizing human antibody, MAb b12. The versatile synthetic strategy serves as a powerful platform for the development of synthetic peptides as potential HIV-1 vaccine candidates.
Project description:We have analyzed the unique epitope for the broadly neutralizing human monoclonal antibody (MAb) 2G12 on the gp120 surface glycoprotein of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). Sequence analysis, focusing on the conservation of relevant residues across multiple HIV-1 isolates, refined the epitope that was defined previously by substitutional mutagenesis (A. Trkola, M. Purtscher, T. Muster, C. Ballaun, A. Buchacher, N. Sullivan, K. Srinivasan, J. Sodroski, J. P. Moore, and H. Katinger, J. Virol. 70:1100-1108, 1996). In a biochemical study, we digested recombinant gp120 with various glycosidase enzymes of known specificities and showed that the 2G12 epitope is lost when gp120 is treated with mannosidases. Computational analyses were used to position the epitope in the context of the virion-associated envelope glycoprotein complex, to determine the variability of the surrounding surface, and to calculate the surface accessibility of possible glycan- and polypeptide-epitope components. Together, these analyses suggest that the 2G12 epitope is centered on the high-mannose and/or hybrid glycans of residues 295, 332, and 392, with peripheral glycans from 386 and 448 on either flank. The epitope is mannose dependent and composed primarily of carbohydrate, with probably no direct involvement of the gp120 polypeptide surface. It resides on a face orthogonal to the CD4 binding face, on a surface proximal to, but distinct from, that implicated in coreceptor binding. Its conservation amidst an otherwise highly variable gp120 surface suggests a functional role for the 2G12 binding site, perhaps related to the mannose-dependent attachment of HIV-1 to DC-SIGN or related lectins that facilitate virus entry into susceptible target cells.
Project description:The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) envelope (Env) protein contains numerous N-linked carbohydrates that shield conserved peptide epitopes and promote trans infection by dendritic cells via binding to cell surface lectins. The potent and broadly neutralizing monoclonal antibody 2G12 binds a cluster of high-mannose-type oligosaccharides on the gp120 subunit of Env, revealing a conserved and highly exposed epitope on the glycan shield. To find an effective antigen for eliciting 2G12-like antibodies, we searched for endogenous yeast proteins that could bind to 2G12 in a panel of Saccharomyces cerevisiae glycosylation knockouts and discovered one protein that bound weakly in a Delta pmr1 strain deficient in hyperglycosylation. 2G12 binding to this protein, identified as Pst1, was enhanced by adding the Delta mnn1 deletion to the Delta pmr1 background, ensuring the exposure of terminal alpha1,2-linked mannose residues on the D1 and D3 arms of high-mannose glycans. However, optimum 2G12 antigenicity was found when Pst1, a heavily N-glycosylated protein, was expressed with homogenous Man(8)GlcNAc(2) structures in Delta och1 Delta mnn1 Delta mnn4 yeast. Surface plasmon resonance analysis of this form of Pst1 showed high affinity for 2G12, which translated into Pst1 efficiently inhibiting gp120 interactions with 2G12 and DC-SIGN and blocking 2G12-mediated neutralization of HIV-1 pseudoviruses. The high affinity of the yeast glycoprotein Pst1 for 2G12 highlights its potential as a novel antigen to induce 2G12-like antibodies.
Project description:Novel neoglycoproteins containing oligomannosidic penta- and heptasaccharides as structural variants of oligomannose-type N-glycans found on human immunodeficiency virus type 1 gp120 have been prepared using different conjugation methods. Two series of synthetic ligands equipped with 3-aminopropyl spacer moieties and differing in the anomeric configuration of the reducing mannose residue were activated either as isothiocyanates or as adipic acid succinimidoyl esters and coupled to bovine serum albumin. Coupling efficiency for adipic acid connected neoglycoconjugates was better than for the thiourea-linked derivatives; the latter constructs, however, exhibited higher reactivity toward antibody 2G12, an HIV-neutralizing antibody with exquisite specificity for oligomannose-type glycans. 2G12 binding avidities for the conjugates, as determined by Bio-Layer Interferometry, were mostly higher for the β-linked ligands and, as expected, increased with the numbers of covalently linked glycans, leading to approximate KD values of 10 to 34 nM for optimized ligand-to-BSA ratios. A similar correlation was observed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. In addition, dendrimer-type ligands presenting trimeric oligomannose epitopes were generated by conversion of the amino-spacer group into a terminal azide, followed by triazole formation using "click chemistry". The severe steric bulk of the ligands, however, led to poor efficiency in the coupling step and no increased antibody binding by the resulting neoglycoconjugates, indicating that the low degree of substitution and the spatial orientation of the oligomannose epitopes within these trimeric ligands are not conducive to multivalent 2G12 binding.
Project description:HIV-1 envelope (Env) mimetics are candidate components of prophylactic vaccines and potential therapeutics. Here we use a synthetic V3-glycopeptide ("Man9-V3") for structural studies of an HIV Env third variable loop (V3)-glycan directed, broadly neutralizing antibody (bnAb) lineage ("DH270"), to visualize the epitope on Env and to study how affinity maturation of the lineage proceeded. Unlike many previous V3 mimetics, Man9-V3 encompasses two key features of the V3 region recognized by V3-glycan bnAbs-the conserved GDIR motif and the N332 glycan. In our structure of an antibody fragment of a lineage member, DH270.6, in complex with the V3 glycopeptide, the conformation of the antibody-bound glycopeptide conforms closely to that of the corresponding segment in an intact HIV-1 Env trimer. An additional structure identifies roles for two critical mutations in the development of breadth. The results suggest a strategy for use of a V3 glycopeptide as a vaccine immunogen.