N coreceptor tropism of subtype B viruses [3]. V1V2 region may influence coreceptor binding and participate in shielding of neutralization-sensitive regions of the Env. V1V2 length and potential N-linked glycosylation sites (PNGS) were found to increase significantly through chronic infection before declining in late-stage infection [1], and an increase in the V1V2 length and/or the number of PNGS in the V1V2 region directly contributed to viral resistance to HIVspecific neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) [4,10]. Important structural motifs formed by the C3 and V4 regions and 10457188 the epitopes within the motifs were also found to be major targets of the earlyautologous neutralizing response in HIV-1 subtype C infection [7]. Extensive intra-patient V4 variability in length and number of PNGS has also been observed in clade B, G, and CRF02 isolates during early infection [2]. In addition, some variable loops constitute neutralizing determinants recognized by several known broadly neutralizing HIV-1 human monoclonal antibodies (bnmAbs). For example, bnmAb VRC01 binds to an epitope formed by the CD4 binding site (CD4bs), V5 and loop D (lpD) [11], and bnmAbs PG9/16, CH04 and PGT145 are V1/V2directed antibodies [12], while a short b-strand segment of the V3 loop is involved in binding of PGT127 and 128 to Env trimer [13]. These Title Loaded From File observations Erin mRNA and the phosphorylation of Ecadherin were determined in BGC suggest potentially important roles of variable loops in Env-mediated virus entry and virus pathogenesis. However, how changes in these loops affect Env function are not well studied. In this study, we generated a series of loop deletion or replacement mutants of JRFL gp160, and investigated the effects of each loop deletion or replacement on Env expression, Env cell surface display, and virus assembly and subsequent virus entry into permissive cells. In addition to the five variable loops, we also investigated the importance of two other loops, the CD4 binding loop (CD4bl) and lpD, for Env-mediated viral function. We further investigated if deletion of Env cytoplasmic tail (CT) canImportance of HIV-1 Env Variable Loopsrescue the defects in Env expression and function caused by variable loop deletions.Materials and Methods Cells, Plasmids, Medium, Antibiotics, and Antibodies93 T cells were purchased from ATCC. TZM-bl cell line was obtained from the NIH AIDS Research and Reference Reagent Program (ARRRP). The pSVIII-JRFL gp160 wild type (WT) and pcTAT plasmids were kindly provided by Yuxing Li, Richard Wyatt and Joseph Sodroski [14]. DMEM medium, fetal bovine serum (FBS) and penicillin-streptomycin (pen-strep) were purchased from Gibco. Purified gp120-specific polyclonal Abs D7324 were purchased from Aalto BioReagents. IgG1s b12 and 2G12 were obtained from ARRRP. IgG1 VRC01 was kindly provided by Xueling Wu and John Mascola. The rest of HIV-1 mAbs were produced in our laboratory by transient transfection of 293F cells (Invitrogen) followed by Protein A (GE Healthcare) affinity purification.medium. 48 h post transfection, 293 T cells were harvested, washed with FACS buffer (PBS+5 FBS) and stained with IgG1 2G12, or VRC01, or b12 as a primary antibody at 4uC for 1 h. Following washing three times with FACS buffer, cells were incubated with phycoerythrin (PE) conjugated to anti-human Fc (Sigma) (1:200) at 4uC for 45 min. Cells were then washed again three times with FACS buffer and analyzed on a BD flow cytometer. The results were analyzed by FlowJo software.Generation of Env-pseudotyped VirusesEnv-pseudotyped viruses.N coreceptor tropism of subtype B viruses [3]. V1V2 region may influence coreceptor binding and participate in shielding of neutralization-sensitive regions of the Env. V1V2 length and potential N-linked glycosylation sites (PNGS) were found to increase significantly through chronic infection before declining in late-stage infection [1], and an increase in the V1V2 length and/or the number of PNGS in the V1V2 region directly contributed to viral resistance to HIVspecific neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) [4,10]. Important structural motifs formed by the C3 and V4 regions and 10457188 the epitopes within the motifs were also found to be major targets of the earlyautologous neutralizing response in HIV-1 subtype C infection [7]. Extensive intra-patient V4 variability in length and number of PNGS has also been observed in clade B, G, and CRF02 isolates during early infection [2]. In addition, some variable loops constitute neutralizing determinants recognized by several known broadly neutralizing HIV-1 human monoclonal antibodies (bnmAbs). For example, bnmAb VRC01 binds to an epitope formed by the CD4 binding site (CD4bs), V5 and loop D (lpD) [11], and bnmAbs PG9/16, CH04 and PGT145 are V1/V2directed antibodies [12], while a short b-strand segment of the V3 loop is involved in binding of PGT127 and 128 to Env trimer [13]. These observations suggest potentially important roles of variable loops in Env-mediated virus entry and virus pathogenesis. However, how changes in these loops affect Env function are not well studied. In this study, we generated a series of loop deletion or replacement mutants of JRFL gp160, and investigated the effects of each loop deletion or replacement on Env expression, Env cell surface display, and virus assembly and subsequent virus entry into permissive cells. In addition to the five variable loops, we also investigated the importance of two other loops, the CD4 binding loop (CD4bl) and lpD, for Env-mediated viral function. We further investigated if deletion of Env cytoplasmic tail (CT) canImportance of HIV-1 Env Variable Loopsrescue the defects in Env expression and function caused by variable loop deletions.Materials and Methods Cells, Plasmids, Medium, Antibiotics, and Antibodies93 T cells were purchased from ATCC. TZM-bl cell line was obtained from the NIH AIDS Research and Reference Reagent Program (ARRRP). The pSVIII-JRFL gp160 wild type (WT) and pcTAT plasmids were kindly provided by Yuxing Li, Richard Wyatt and Joseph Sodroski [14]. DMEM medium, fetal bovine serum (FBS) and penicillin-streptomycin (pen-strep) were purchased from Gibco. Purified gp120-specific polyclonal Abs D7324 were purchased from Aalto BioReagents. IgG1s b12 and 2G12 were obtained from ARRRP. IgG1 VRC01 was kindly provided by Xueling Wu and John Mascola. The rest of HIV-1 mAbs were produced in our laboratory by transient transfection of 293F cells (Invitrogen) followed by Protein A (GE Healthcare) affinity purification.medium. 48 h post transfection, 293 T cells were harvested, washed with FACS buffer (PBS+5 FBS) and stained with IgG1 2G12, or VRC01, or b12 as a primary antibody at 4uC for 1 h. Following washing three times with FACS buffer, cells were incubated with phycoerythrin (PE) conjugated to anti-human Fc (Sigma) (1:200) at 4uC for 45 min. Cells were then washed again three times with FACS buffer and analyzed on a BD flow cytometer. The results were analyzed by FlowJo software.Generation of Env-pseudotyped VirusesEnv-pseudotyped viruses.
