Single-Chain Soluble BG505.SOSIP gp140 Trimers as Structural and Antigenic Mimics of Mature Closed HIV-1 Env.

ABSTRACT:

Unlabelled

Similar to other type I fusion machines, the HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein (Env) requires proteolytic activation; specifically, cleavage of a gp160 precursor into gp120 and gp41 subunits creates an N-terminal gp41 fusion peptide and permits folding from an immature uncleaved state to a mature closed state. While the atomic-level consequences of cleavage for HIV-1 Env are still being determined, the uncleaved state is antigenically distinct from the mature closed state, and cleavage has been reported to be essential for mimicry of the mature viral spike by soluble versions of Env. Here we report the redesign of a current state-of-the-art soluble Env mimic, BG505.SOSIP, to make it cleavage independent. Specifically, we replaced the furin cleavage site between gp120 and gp41

SUBMITTER: Georgiev IS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4442528 | biostudies-literature | 2015 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature