
Targeted N-glycan deletion at the receptor-binding site retains HIV Env NFL trimer integrity and accelerates the elicited antibody response
Author(s) -
Viktoriya Dubrovskaya,
Javier Guenaga,
Natalia de Val,
Richard F. Wilson,
Yanghe Feng,
Arlette Movsesyan,
Gunilla B. Karlsson Hedestam,
Andrew B. Ward,
Richard T. Wyatt
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
plos pathogens
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.719
H-Index - 206
eISSN - 1553-7374
pISSN - 1553-7366
DOI - 10.1371/journal.ppat.1006614
Subject(s) - glycan , trimer , biology , glycosylation , antibody , neutralizing antibody , fragment crystallizable region , glycoprotein , virology , immunogenicity , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry , chemistry , immunology , dimer , organic chemistry
Extensive shielding by N-glycans on the surface of the HIV envelope glycoproteins (Env) restricts B cell recognition of conserved neutralizing determinants. Elicitation of broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) in selected HIV-infected individuals reveals that Abs capable of penetrating the glycan shield can be generated by the B cell repertoire. Accordingly, we sought to determine if targeted N-glycan deletion might alter antibody responses to Env. We focused on the conserved CD4 binding site (CD4bs) since this is a known neutralizing determinant that is devoid of glycosylation to allow CD4 receptor engagement, but is ringed by surrounding N-glycans. We selectively deleted potential N-glycan sites (PNGS) proximal to the CD4bs on well-ordered clade C 16055 native flexibly linked (NFL) trimers to potentially increase recognition by naïve B cells in vivo . We generated glycan-deleted trimer variants that maintained native-like conformation and stability. Using a panel of CD4bs-directed bNAbs, we demonstrated improved accessibility of the CD4bs on the N-glycan-deleted trimer variants. We showed that pseudoviruses lacking these Env PNGSs were more sensitive to neutralization by CD4bs-specific bNAbs but remained resistant to non-neutralizing mAbs. We performed rabbit immunogenicity experiments using two approaches comparing glycan-deleted to fully glycosylated NFL trimers. The first was to delete 4 PNGS sites and then boost with fully glycosylated Env; the second was to delete 4 sites and gradually re-introduce these N-glycans in subsequent boosts. We demonstrated that the 16055 PNGS-deleted trimers more rapidly elicited serum antibodies that more potently neutralized the CD4bs-proximal-PNGS-deleted viruses in a statistically significant manner and strongly trended towards increased neutralization of fully glycosylated autologous virus. This approach elicited serum IgG capable of cross-neutralizing selected tier 2 viruses lacking N-glycans at residue N276 (natural or engineered), indicating that PNGS deletion of well-ordered trimers is a promising strategy to prime B cell responses to this conserved neutralizing determinant.