Broad and potent cross clade neutralizing antibodies with multiple specificities in the plasma of HIV-1 subtype C infected individuals

Sci Rep. 2017 Apr 24:7:46557. doi: 10.1038/srep46557.

Abstract

Broadly Cross clade Neutralizing (BCN) antibodies are recognized as potential therapeutic tools and leads for the design of a vaccine that can protect human beings against various clades of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). In the present study, we screened plasma of 88 HIV-1 infected ART naïve individuals for their neutralization potential using a standard panel of 18 pseudoviruses belonging to different subtypes and different levels of neutralization. We identified 12 samples with good breadth of neutralization (neutralized >90% of the viruses). Four of these samples neutralized even the difficult-to-neutralize tier-3 pseudoviruses with great potency (GMT > 600). Analysis of neutralization specificities indicated that four samples had antibodies with multiple epitope binding specificities, viz. CD4-binding site (CD4BS), glycans in the V1/V2 and V3 regions and membrane proximal external region (MPER). Our findings indicate the strong possibility of identifying highly potent bNAbs with known or novel specificities from HIV-1 subtype C infected individuals from India that can be exploited as therapeutic tools or lead molecules for the identification of potential epitopes for design of a protective HIV-1 vaccine.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Antibodies, Neutralizing / immunology*
  • Antibody Specificity*
  • Female
  • HIV Antibodies / immunology*
  • HIV Infections / immunology*
  • HIV-1 / immunology*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged

Substances

  • Antibodies, Neutralizing
  • HIV Antibodies