bTo overcome the problem of HIV-1 variability, candidate vaccine antigens have been designed to be composed of conserved elements of the HIV-1 proteome. Such candidate vaccines could be improved with a better understanding of both HIV-1 evolutionary constraints and the fitness cost of specific mutations. We evaluated the in vitro fitness cost of 23 mutations engineered in the HIV-1 subtype B Gag-p24 Center-of-Tree (COT) protein through fitness competition assays. While some mutations at conserved sites exacted a high fitness cost, as expected under the assumption that the most conserved residue confers the highest fitness, there was no overall strong relationship between sequence conservation and replicative capacity. By comparing sites that have evolved since the beginning of the epidemic to those that have remain unchanged, we found that sites that have evolved over time were more likely to correspond to HLA-associated sites and that their mutation had limited fitness costs. Our data showed no transcendent link between high conservation and high fitness cost, indicating that merely focusing on conserved segments of HIV-1 would not be sufficient for a successful vaccine strategy. Nonetheless, a subset of sites exacted a high fitness cost upon mutation-these sites have been under selective pressure to change since the beginning of the epidemic but have proved virtually nonmutable and could constitute preferred targets for vaccine design.

The recently available x-ray crystal structure of HIV-1 capsid hexamers has provided insight into the molecular interactions crucial for the virus’s mature capsid formation. Amino acid changes at these interaction points are likely to have a strong impact on capsid functionality and, hence, viral infectivity and replication fitness. To test this hypothesis, we introduced the most frequently observed single amino acid substitution at 30 sites: 12 at the capsid hexamerization interface and 18 at non-interface sites. Mutations at the interface sites were more likely to be lethal (Fisher’s exact test p = 0.027) and had greater negative impact on viral replication fitness (Wilcoxon rank sum test p = 0.040). Among the interface mutations studied, those located in the cluster of hydrophobic contacts at NTD-NTD interface and those that disrupted NTD-CTD inter-domain helix capping hydrogen bonds were the most detrimental, indicating that these interactions are particularly important for maintaining capsid structure and/or function. These functionally constrained sites provide potential targets for novel HIV drug development and vaccine immunogen design.

BackgroundDespite high potential for HIV-1 genetic variation, the emergence of some mutations is constrained by fitness costs, and may be associated with compensatory amino acid (AA) co-variation. To characterize the interplay between Cytotoxic T Lymphocyte (CTL)-mediated pressure and HIV-1 evolutionary pathways, we investigated AA co-variation in Gag sequences obtained from 449 South African individuals chronically infected with HIV-1 subtype C.Methodology/Principal FindingsIndividuals with CTL responses biased toward Gag presented lower viral loads than individuals with under-represented Gag-specific CTL responses. Using methods that account for founder effects and HLA linkage disequilibrium, we identified 35 AA sites under Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA)-restricted CTL selection pressure and 534 AA-to-AA interactions. Analysis of two-dimensional distances between co-varying residues revealed local stabilization mechanisms since 40% of associations involved neighboring residues. Key features of our co-variation analysis included sites with a high number of co-varying partners, such as HLA-associated sites, which had on average 55% more connections than other co-varying sites.Conclusions/SignificanceClusters of co-varying AA around HLA-associated sites (especially at typically conserved sites) suggested that cooperative interactions act to preserve the local structural stability and protein function when CTL escape mutations occur. These results expose HLA-imprinted HIV-1 polymorphisms and their interlinked mutational paths in Gag that are likely due to opposite selective pressures from host CTL-mediated responses and viral fitness constraints.

Sequence diversity and immunodominance are major obstacles in the design of an effective vaccine against HIV. HIV Env is a highly-glycosylated protein composed of ‘conserved’ and ‘variable’ regions. The latter contains immunodominant epitopes that are frequently targeted by the immune system resulting in the generation of immune escape variants. This work describes 12 regions in HIV Env that are highly conserved throughout the known HIV M Group sequences (Env CE), and are poorly immunogenic in macaques vaccinated with full-length Env expressing DNA vaccines. Two versions of plasmids encoding the 12 Env CE were generated, differing by 0–5 AA per CE to maximize the inclusion of commonly detected variants. In contrast to the full-length env DNA vaccine, vaccination of macaques with a combination of these 2 Env CE DNA induced robust, durable cellular immune responses with a significant fraction of CD8+ T cells with cytotoxic phenotype (Granzyme B+ and CD107a+). Although inefficient in generating primary responses to the CE, boosting of the Env CE DNA primed macaques with the intact env DNA vaccine potently augmented pre-existing immunity, increasing magnitude, breadth and cytotoxicity of the cellular responses. Fine mapping showed that 7 of the 12 CE elicited T cell responses. Env CE DNA also induced humoral responses able to recognize the full-length Env. Env CE plasmids are therefore capable of inducing durable responses to highly conserved regions of Env that are frequently absent after Env vaccination or immunologically subdominant. These modified antigens are candidates for use as prophylactic and therapeutic HIV vaccines.

It has been hypothesized that a single mutation at a highly conserved amino acid site (HCS) can be severely deleterious to HIV in most if not all isolate-specific genetic backgrounds. Consequently, potentially universal HIV-1 vaccines exclusively targeting highly conserved regions of the viral proteome have been proposed. To test this hypothesis, we examined the impact of 10 Gag-p24 and 9 Env-gp120 HCS single mutations on viral fitness. In the original founder sequence of the subject in whom these mutations were identified, all Gag-p24 HCS mutations significantly reduced viral replication fitness, including 7 that were lethal. Similar results were obtained at 9/10 sites when the same mutations were introduced into the founder sequences of two epidemiologically unlinked subjects. In contrast, none of the 9 Env-gp120 HCS mutations were lethal in the original founder sequence, and four had no fitness cost. Hence, HCS mutations in Gag-p24 are likely to be severely deleterious in different HIV-1 subtype B backgrounds; however, some HCS mutations in both Gag-p24 and Env-gp120 fragments can be well tolerated. Therefore, when designing HIV-1 immunogens that are intended to force the virus to nonviable escape pathways, the fitness constraints on the HIV segments included should be considered beyond their conservation level.