Comparison of Antibody Immune responses to different HIV-1 Envelope Glycoprotein Mutants.

Background: The identification of immunogens is crucial for human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) vaccine development. In our previous study, we demonstrated that HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein mutants based on the equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) attenuated vaccine enhance immunogenicity, both for DNA immunization alone and as a combined DNA prime-vaccinia boost immunization. An RV144 clinical trial has demonstrated that an envelope protein boost may provide some degree of protection against HIV-1 infection. Methods: In order to explore the antibody immune responses to two HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein mutants based on the EIAV vaccine and wild-type envelope glycoprotein, mice and guinea pigs were immunized using a DNA prime-protein boost immunization strategy. Results: The result showed, compared with wild-type gp140, gp140 2M (which contained 2 sites amino acid mutations) and gp140 5M (which contained 5 sites amino acid mutations) increased env-specific IgG and IgG3 binding antibody titers. Gp140 2M resulted in a slight improvement in the neutralizing antibody response against sensitive HIV-1 isolates compared with gp140. Conclusion: These findings have implications for HIV-1 vaccine development based on the HIV-1 CN54 envelope glycoprotein.