A New Approach to Produce HIV-1 Envelope Trimers: BOTH CLEAVAGE AND PROPER GLYCOSYLATION ARE ESSENTIAL TO GENERATE AUTHENTIC TRIMERS.

ABSTRACT: The trimeric envelope spike of HIV-1 mediates virus entry into human cells. The exposed part of the trimer, gp140, consists of two noncovalently associated subunits, gp120 and gp41 ectodomain. A recombinant vaccine that mimics the native trimer might elicit entry-blocking antibodies and prevent virus infection. However, preparation of authentic HIV-1 trimers has been challenging. Recently, an affinity column containing the broadly neutralizing antibody 2G12 has been used to capture recombinant gp140 and prepare trimers from clade A BG505 that naturally produces stable trimers. However, this antibody-based approach may not be as effective for the diverse HIV-1 strains with different epitope signatures. Here, we report a new and simple approach to produce HIV-1 envelope trimers. The C termin

SUBMITTER: AlSalmi W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4528139 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature