Neutralization Efficiency Is Greatly Enhanced by Bivalent Binding of an Antibody to Epitopes in the V4 Region and the Membrane-Proximal External Region within One Trimer of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Glycoproteins

Most antibodies are multivalent, with the potential to bind with high avidity. However, neutralizing antibodies commonly bind to virions monovalently. Bivalent binding of a monoclonal antibody (MAb) to a virion has been documented only in a single case. Thus, the role of high avidity in antibody-mediated neutralization of viruses has not been defined clearly. In this study, we demonstrated that when an artificial 2F5 epitope was inserted in the gp120 V4 region so that an HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein (Env) trimer contains a natural 2F5 epitope in the gp41 membrane-proximal envelope region (MPER) and an artificially engineered 2F5 epitope in the gp120 V4 region, bivalent 2F5 IgG achieved greatly enhanced neutralization efficiency, with a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) decrease over a 2-log scale. In contrast, the monovalent 2F5 Fab fragment did not exhibit any appreciable change in neutralization efficiency in the same context. These results demonstrate that bivalent binding of 2F5 IgG to a single HIV-1 Env trimer results in dramatic enhancement of neutralization, probably through an increase in binding avidity. Furthermore, we demonstrated that bivalent binding of MAb 2F5 to the V4 region and MPER of an HIV-1 Env trimer can be achieved only in a specific configuration, providing an important insight into the structure of a native/infectious HIV-1 Env trimer. This specific binding configuration also establishes a useful standard that can be applied to evaluate the biological relevance of structural information on the HIV-1 Env trimer.Immunoglobulin molecules have multiple binding paratopes for antigens; for example, those for IgG1 are bivalent and those for IgM are dodecavalent. It is obvious that multivalent binding is required for the distinct mechanism of neutralization by cross-linking multiple virions to form virus aggregates (reviewed in references 7 and 67). Despite the potential of antibodies for multivalent binding, structural evidence indicates that neutralizing antibodies often bind to an individual virion in a monovalent fashion (19, 20, 27, 29, 50, 53; reviewed in references 12 and 22). Bivalent binding of an antibody to a virion has been documented with clear structural evidence in only one case, in which monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) 17-IA and 8F5 bind to virions of human rhinovirus 14 (HRV14) and HRV2 (19, 43). Even in this unique case, binding bivalency appears to contribute to the neutralization potency of 17-IA but not to that of 8F5 (19, 42, 43). Moreover, these MAbs bind to two hydrophobic canyon structures formed by viral proteins VP1 and VP2 and not to antigenic epitopes within individual viral capsid protomers; thus, this case may represent an exception to the common form of antibody/antigen interactions in which the antibodies bind to individual antigens. Therefore, it is not clear what role antibody-binding multivalency plays in antibody-mediated neutralization of viruses at the level of interaction between antibody molecules and individual virions.The binding affinity of an antibody to its target is defined by intrinsic affinity and avidity (reviewed in reference 16). Intrinsic affinity is the force of monovalent binding between an antibody paratope and an antigenic epitope, often measured by binding a Fab fragment to an antigen. Avidity is the additive or synergistic force of engaging multiple antibody paratope/antigen epitope pairs between one antibody and one antigen. In other words, avidity is a functional consequence of antibody-binding multivalency. The effect of avidity on affinity is readily demonstrated in biochemical reactions such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR), in which high-density antigenic sites are available without distinct spatial restrictions. It is commonly assumed that both affinity and avidity have functional consequences in antibody-mediated neutralization of viruses (reviewed in references 7 and 67). At the level of individual virions, the contribution of antibody-binding avidity to neutralization efficiency is often based on two types of experiments. In one, results from a side-by-side comparison between an antibody and its Fab fragment are often reported as evidence supporting a role of antibody-binding multivalency in virus neutralization. However, the interpretation of this type of experiment is complicated by the size difference between an antibody and a Fab fragment, since steric hindrance is a major mechanism of neutralization (reviewed in references 6 and 23). In a second type of experiment, a correlation between neutralization efficiency and the ability of the antibody/virus complex to resist chemical stress without dissociation in the presence of a high concentration of salt in solution is interpreted to support a contributing effect from antibody-binding avidity to neutralization efficiency (2, 21, 36, 49, 51). Data from this type of experiment are limited mostly to measuring binding affinity that is below the affinity required for virus neutralization. Furthermore, these studies often do not distinguish between avidity effects caused by an antibody binding to two (or more) epitopes on one antigen or to multiple epitopes from different molecules on the virion. Therefore, like the situation with antibody-binding multivalency, it remains unclear whether binding avidity contributes to antibody-mediated neutralization of viruses at the level of individual virions.The envelope glycoproteins (Envs) of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) exist on the virion or cell surface as trimers of gp120 and gp41 heterodimers (13, 30, 62, 65). High-resolution structural information for a native HIV-1 Env trimer is critically important for understanding the function of HIV-1 Envs as well as for guiding the development of an effective immunogen to elicit broad and potent neutralizing antibody responses. X-ray crystal structures of the gp41 ectodomain fragments in the postfusion conformation have been resolved; however, a high-resolution structure of gp41 in the prefusion conformation is still unavailable and likely will be more informative for understanding the function of HIV-1 Env trimers (9, 47, 52). Two X-ray crystal structures of the gp120 core in both the CD4-liganded and unliganded conformations have been solved, but the biological meanings of these structures, especially how they are related to the native, functional Env trimer, are still being debated (10, 26). Several low-resolution structures of the Env trimers from HIV-1 or the closely related simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) have been determined using cryoelectron microscopy (cryo-EM) tomography (4, 30, 62, 64, 65, 66). The predicted structures for the Env trimer are in general quite different between the two studies, and the difference is particularly dramatic around the gp41 membrane-proximal external region (MPER). A high-resolution structure of the native HIV-1 Env trimer is needed to resolve these differences. In the meantime, a distinctive standard needs to be developed for evaluating the biological relevance of structural information of an HIV-1 Env trimer.Our previous studies of the stoichiometry of antibody-mediated neutralization of HIV-1 Env indicated that MAbs b12, 2G12, and 2F5 neutralize by a stoichiometry designated T=1, i.e., one antibody binds to and neutralizes one HIV-1 Env trimer (57). Furthermore, when an artificial epitope (FLAG) was inserted in the V4 region of HIV-1 gp120, an epitope-specific anti-FLAG MAb achieved neutralization by the mechanism of steric hindrance (37, 61). Using the well-defined 2F5 neutralizing epitope as a model system (35, 39, 45), we constructed HIV-1 Env proteins carrying one 2F5 epitope in the gp120 V4 region and another 2F5 epitope in the gp41 MPER. Here, we investigated whether binding bivalency leads to enhancement in neutralization efficiency. By studying the detailed requirement for binding bivalency, we also probed the structure of the native, functional HIV-1 Env trimer, aiming to establish a standard that can be employed to evaluate the biological relevance of structural information on the HIV-1 Env trimer.