Current HIV-1 vaccines elicit strain-specific neutralizing antibodies. However, cross-reactive neutralizing antibodies arise in ~20% of HIV-1-infected individuals, and details of their generation could provide a roadmap for effective vaccination. Here we report the isolation, evolution and structure of a broadly neutralizing antibody from an African donor followed from time of infection. The mature antibody, CH103, neutralized ~55% of HIV-1 isolates, and its co-crystal structure with gp120 revealed a novel loop-based mechanism of CD4-binding site recognition. Virus and antibody gene sequencing revealed concomitant virus evolution and antibody maturation. Notably, the CH103-lineage unmutated common ancestor avidly bound the transmitted/founder HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein, and evolution of antibody neutralization breadth was preceded by extensive viral diversification in and near the CH103 epitope. These data elucidate the viral and antibody evolution leading to induction of a lineage of HIV-1 broadly neutralizing antibodies and provide insights into strategies to elicit similar antibodies via vaccination.

HIV-1 uses a diverse N-linked-glycan shield to evade recognition by antibody. Select human antibodies, such as the clonally related PG9 and PG16, recognize glycopeptide epitopes in the HIV-1 V1–V2 region and penetrate this shield, but their ability to accommodate diverse glycans is unclear. Here we report the structure of antibody PG16 bound to a scaffolded V1–V2, showing an epitope comprising both high mannose–type and complex-type N-linked glycans. We combined structure, NMR and mutagenesis analyses to characterize glycan recognition by PG9 and PG16. Three PG16-specific residues, arginine, serine and histidine (RSH), were critical for binding sialic acid on complex-type glycans, and introduction of these residues into PG9 produced a chimeric antibody with enhanced HIV-1 neutralization. Although HIV-1–glycan diversity facilitates evasion, antibody somatic diversity can overcome this and can provide clues to guide the design of modified antibodies with enhanced neutralization.

Over the past 5 years, a new generation of highly potent and broadly neutralizing HIV-1 antibodies has been identified. These antibodies can protect against lentiviral infection in nonhuman primates (NHPs), suggesting that passive antibody transfer would prevent HIV-1 transmission in humans. To increase the protective efficacy of such monoclonal antibodies, we employed next-generation sequencing, computational bioinformatics, and structure-guided design to enhance the neutralization potency and breadth of VRC01, an antibody that targets the CD4 binding site of the HIV-1 envelope. One variant, VRC07-523, was 5-to 8-fold more potent than VRC01, neutralized 96% of viruses tested, and displayed minimal autoreactivity. To compare its protective efficacy to that of VRC01 in vivo, we performed a series of simian-human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV) challenge experiments in nonhuman primates and calculated the doses of VRC07-523 and VRC01 that provide 50% protection (EC 50 ). VRC07-523 prevented infection in NHPs at a 5-fold lower concentration than VRC01. These results suggest that increased neutralization potency in vitro correlates with improved protection against infection in vivo, documenting the improved functional efficacy of VRC07-523 and its potential clinical relevance for protecting against HIV-1 infection in humans. IMPORTANCEIn the absence of an effective HIV-1 vaccine, alternative strategies are needed to block HIV-1 transmission. Direct administration of HIV-1-neutralizing antibodies may be able to prevent HIV-1 infections in humans. This approach could be especially useful in individuals at high risk for contracting HIV-1 and could be used together with antiretroviral drugs to prevent infection. To optimize the chance of success, such antibodies can be modified to improve their potency, breadth, and in vivo half-life. Here, knowledge of the structure of a potent neutralizing antibody, VRC01, that targets the CD4-binding site of the HIV-1 envelope protein was used to engineer a next-generation antibody with 5-to 8-fold increased potency in vitro. When administered to nonhuman primates, this antibody conferred protection at a 5-fold lower concentration than the original antibody. Our studies demonstrate an important correlation between in vitro assays used to evaluate the therapeutic potential of antibodies and their in vivo effectiveness.

A HIV-1 DNA prime-recombinant Adenovirus Type 5 (rAd5) boost vaccine failed to protect from HIV-1 acquisition. We studied the nature of the vaccine-induced antibody (Ab) response to HIV-1 envelope (Env). HIV-1-reactive plasma Ab titers were higher to Env gp41 than gp120, and repertoire analysis demonstrated that 93% of HIV-1-reactive Abs from memory B cells was to Env gp41. Vaccine-induced gp41-reactive monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) were non-neutralizing, and frequently polyreactive with host and environmental antigens including intestinal microbiota (IM). Next generation sequencing of an IGHV repertoire prior to vaccination revealed an Env-IM cross-reactive Ab that was clonally-related to a subsequent vaccine-induced gp41-reactive Ab. Thus, HIV-1 Env DNA-rAd5 vaccine induced a dominant IM-polyreactive, non-neutralizing gp41-reactive Ab repertoire response that was associated with no vaccine efficacy.

Next-generation sequencing of antibody transcripts from HIV-1-infected individuals with broadly neutralizing antibodies could provide an efficient means for identifying somatic variants and characterizing their lineages. Here, we used 454 pyrosequencing and identity/divergence grid sampling to analyze heavy-and lightchain sequences from donor N152, the source of the broadly neutralizing antibody 10E8. We identified variants with up to 28% difference in amino acid sequence. Heavy-and light-chain phylogenetic trees of identified 10E8 variants displayed similar architectures, and 10E8 variants reconstituted from matched and unmatched phylogenetic branches displayed significantly lower autoreactivity when matched. To test the generality of phylogenetic pairing, we analyzed donor International AIDS Vaccine Initiative 84, the source of antibodies PGT141-145. Heavy-and light-chain phylogenetic trees of PGT141-145 somatic variants also displayed remarkably similar architectures; in this case, branch pairings could be anchored by known PGT141-145 antibodies. Altogether, our findings suggest that phylogenetic matching of heavy and light chains can provide a means to approximate natural pairings.antibody-affinity maturation | antibodyomics | B-cell ontogeny | DNA sequencing | immunological tolerance