Differential V2-directed antibody responses in non-human primates infected with SHIVs or immunized with diverse HIV vaccines—Weiss 2022

V2p and V2i antibodies (Abs) that target epitopes in the V1V2 region of the HIV gp120 envelope (Env) do not destroy HIV but mediate Fc-dependent anti-viral actions that have been linked to HIV, SIV, and SHIV infection prevention and control. We present a unique molecular toolkit for distinguishing polyclonal V2 Ab responses by antigen and function. We discover three vaccination regimens and SHIV infection patterns that help optimize V2p and V2i Abs induction. After V2-targeting vaccine inoculation, SHIV-infected NHPs have robust V2p and V2i Ab responses. V2-focused vaccination induces V2p- and V2i-specific responses better than spontaneous infection and entire Env constructs. V2-directed Abs levels are inversely related to V3 and C5 peptide-specific Abs. These findings show that a V1V2-targeting vaccine induces a more focused functional V2p- and V2i-specific Ab response than SIV/SHIV infections and full Env-based immunization regimens.

Weiss, S., Itri, V., Pan, R., Jiang, X., Luo, C. C., Morris, L., Malherbe, D. C., Barnette, P., Alexander, J., Kong, X. P., Haigwood, N. L., Hessell, A. J., Duerr, R., & Zolla-Pazner, S. (2022). Differential V2-directed antibody responses in non-human primates infected with SHIVs or immunized with diverse HIV vaccines. Nature communications, 13(1), 903. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28450-1