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Twenty-five 13- to 35-amino-acid-long peptides representing regions of human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2), strain SBL6669, envelope proteins were evaluated for their immunogenic activity in guinea pigs. The peptides were selected to provide homologous representation of sites in the HIV-1 envelope proteins that were previously documented to have a particular immunogenic importance. A number of the HIV-2 peptides were found to be capable of inducing strain SBL6669 neutralizing and antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) antibodies. Two overlapping peptides covering amino acids 311-337 representing the central and C-terminal part of the variable third (V3) region, terminology according to Modrow et al. [Modrow, S., Hahn, B., Shaw, G. M., Gallo, R. C., Wong-Staal, F. & Wolf, H. (1987) J. Virol. 61, 570-578], showed the most pronounced capacity to induce neutralizing antibodies. One of the peptides (amino acids 318-337) also induced antibodies mediating ADCC. Two additional regions in the large glycoprotein, gp125, containing linear sites reacting with neutralizing antibodies were identified (amino acids, 119-137 and 472-509). The transmembrane protein, gp36, of HIV-2 harbored two regions of importance for induction of neutralizing antibodies (amino acids 595-614 and 714-729). ADCC activity was induced by two additional gp125-specific peptides (amino acids 291-311 and 446-461). Thus, except for the single V3-specific site there was no correlation between linear immunogenic sites stimulating neutralizing antibody and ADCC activity. These findings pave the way for development of synthetic vaccines against HIV-2 and possibly also simian immunodeficiency virus infections. The capacity of such a product to induce protective immunity can be evaluated in macaque monkeys.

The importance of the dependence on single amino acids in the V3 region of HIV-1 gp120 was evaluated for virus neutralization and antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC). Synthetic overlapping 15-mer peptides and a set of omission peptides covering amino acids 301-317 were used. Sera from 29 HIV-1-infected individuals at different stages of disease were tested for neutralization, ADCC and specific IgG reactivity. Six HIV-1 neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (mAb) acted as controls. All mAb reacted with a region (amino acids 304-318) of gp120, previously shown to induce neutralizing antibodies. The amino acids essential for reactivity were identified to be within the sequence GPGR (amino acids 312-315). The importance of this region for occurrence of neutralizing antibodies in infected humans was investigated using the same set of peptides. Out of 29 individuals, 21 were found to have neutralizing antibodies in titres between 100 and 1000. Among the neutralization-positive sera, 17/21 (81%) reacted with amino acids 304-318, compared with only one of eight sera (13%) negative in neutralization. When any of the four amino acids G, P, G or R were deleted, the seroreactivity decreased considerably. The conserved sequence GPGR was therefore considered to be the most important for neutralization in this region in human sera as well. Thus, the conserved sequence GPGR in the V3 region of gp120 is critical for virus neutralization by human HIV-1-specific antibodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To define the amino acids involved in IgG subclass reactivity to two overlapping HIV-1 gp41 (E34/32; amino acid positions 582-613) peptides, sera from 18 HIV-infected individuals were studied. Peptides mimicking E34 but with single amino acid deletions or glycine substitutions were used to define the amino add residues necessary for antibody binding. Two dominating immunogenic epitopes, containing highly hydrophilic amino acids, were found on the original peptide. Further analysis was undertaken with two corresponding omission sets of dodecapeptides representing halves of the complete E34 plus a terminal cystein peptide. The subclass reactivities usually differed between the patients with regard to the epitopes with which the different IgG subclasses reacted and also to the importance of different amino acids in antibody binding. The 600 glycine and the 601 lysine were involved in the binding of all IgG1,2 and 4 and most IgG3. The development of E34/32-reactive IgM and IgG subclasses showed different patterns in four patients with primary HIV infections, contradicting the existence of a general pattern for the development of IgG subclasses to this peptide. The findings suggest that different progenitor clones are selected for synthesis of the different subclasses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]