Open AccessCharacterization of a Large Panel of Rabbit Monoclonal Antibodies against HIV-1 gp120 and Isolation of Novel Neutralizing Antibodies against the V3 Loop
Author(s) -
Yali Qin,
Saikat Banerjee,
Aditi Agrawal,
Huaizhong Shi,
Marisa Banasik,
Feng Lin,
Kari Loni Rohl,
Celia C. LaBranche,
David C. Montefiori,
Michael W. Cho
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0128823
Subject(s) - v3 loop , epitope , monoclonal antibody , virology , antibody , neutralizing antibody , biology , epitope mapping , microbiology and biotechnology , virus , immunology
We recently reported the induction of potent, cross-clade neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) against Human Immunodeficiency Virus type-1 (HIV-1) in rabbits using gp120 based on an M-group consensus sequence. To better characterize these antibodies, 93 hybridomas were generated, which represent the largest panel of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) ever generated from a vaccinated rabbit. The single most frequently recognized epitope of the isolated mAbs was at the very C-terminal end of the protein (APTKAKRRVVEREKR), followed by the V3 loop. A total of seven anti-V3 loop mAbs were isolated, two of which (10A3 and 10A37) exhibited neutralizing activity. In contrast to 10A3 and most other anti-V3 loop nAbs, 10A37 was atypical with its epitope positioned more towards the C-terminal half of the loop. To our knowledge, 10A37 is the most potent and broadly neutralizing anti-V3 loop mAb induced by vaccination. Interestingly, all seven anti-V3 loop mAbs competed with PGT121, suggesting a possibility that early induction of potent anti-V3 loop antibodies could prevent induction of more broadly neutralizing PGT121-like antibodies that target the conserved base of the V3 loop stem.