Engineering well-expressed, V2-immunofocusing HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein membrane trimers for use in heterologous prime-boost vaccine regimens
Authors: Crooks Emma T , Almanza Francisco , D’addabbo Alessio , Duggan Erika , Zhang Jinsong , Wagh Kshitij , Mou Huihui , Allen Joel D , Thomas Alyssa , Osawa Keiko , Korber Bette T , Tsybovsky Yaroslav , Cale Evan , Nolan John , Crispin Max , Verkoczy Laurent K , Binley James M 
Published: July 2021

HIV-1 vaccine immunofocusing strategies have the potential to induce broadly reactive nAbs. Here, we engineered a panel of diverse, membrane-resident native HIV-1 trimers vulnerable to two broad targets of neutralizing antibodies (NAbs), the V2 apex and fusion peptide (FP). Selection criteria included i) high expression and ii) infectious function, so that trimer neutralization sensitivity can be profiled in pseudovirus assays. Initially, we boosted the expression of 17 candidate trimers by truncating gp41 and introducing a gp120-gp41 SOS disulfide to prevent gp120 shedding. “Repairs” were made to fill glycan holes and other strain-specific aberrations. A new neutralization assay allowed PV infection when our standard assay was insufficient. Trimers with exposed V3 loops, a target of non-neutralizing antibodies, were discarded. To try to increase V2-sensitivity, we removed clashing glycans and modified the V2 loop’s C-strand. Notably, a 167N mutation improved V2-sensitivity. Glycopeptide analysis of JR-FL trimers revealed near complete sequon occupation and that filling the N197 glycan hole was well-tolerated. In contrast, sequon optimization and inserting/removing other glycans in some cases had local and global “ripple” effects on glycan maturation and sequon occupation in the gp120 outer domain and gp41. V2 mAb CH01 selectively bound trimers with small high mannose glycans near the base of the V1 loop, thereby avoiding clashes. Knocking in a N49 glycan perturbs gp41 glycans via a distal glycan network effect, increasing FP NAb sensitivity - and sometimes improving expression. Finally, a biophysical analysis of VLPs revealed that i) ∼25% of particles bear Env spikes, ii) spontaneous particle budding is high and only increases 4-fold upon Gag transfection, and iii) Env+ particles express ∼30-40 spikes. Overall, we identified 7 diverse trimers with a range of sensitivities to two targets that should enable rigorous testing of immunofocusing vaccine concepts.

Author Summary

Despite almost 40 years of innovation, an HIV vaccine to induce antibodies that block virus infection remains elusive. Challenges include the unparalleled sequence diversity of HIV’s surface spikes and its dense sugar coat that limits antibody access. However, a growing number of monoclonal antibodies from HIV infected donors provide vaccine blueprints. To date, these kinds of antibodies have been difficult to induce by vaccination. However, two antibody targets, one at the spike apex and another at the side of the spikes are more forgiving in their ‘demands’ for unusual antibodies. Here, we made a diverse panel of HIV spikes vulnerable at these two sites for later use as vaccines to try to focus antibodies on these targets. Our selection criteria for these spikes were: i) that the spikes, when expressed on particles, are infectious, allowing us to appraise our vaccine designs in an ideal manner; ii) that spikes are easy to produce by cells in quantities sufficient for vaccine use. Ultimately, we selected 7 trimers that will allow us to explore concepts that could bring us closer to an HIV vaccine.