Cell-to-cell spread of HIV-1 and evasion of neutralizing antibodies.

Cell-to-cell spread of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) between immune cells was first observed over 20 years ago. During this time, the question of whether this infection route favours viral evasion of neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) targeting the virus envelope glycoprotein (Env) has been repea...

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Main Authors: Schiffner, T, Sattentau, Q, Duncan, C
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: 2013
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author Schiffner, T
Sattentau, Q
Duncan, C
author_facet Schiffner, T
Sattentau, Q
Duncan, C
author_sort Schiffner, T
collection OXFORD
description Cell-to-cell spread of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) between immune cells was first observed over 20 years ago. During this time, the question of whether this infection route favours viral evasion of neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) targeting the virus envelope glycoprotein (Env) has been repeatedly investigated, but with conflicting results. A clearer picture has formed in the last few years as more broadly neutralizing antibodies have been isolated and we gain further insight into the mechanisms of HIV-1 transmission at virological and infectious synapses. Nevertheless consensus is still lacking, a situation which may be at least partly explained by variability in the experimental approaches used to study the activity of NAbs in the cell-to-cell context. In this review we focus on the most critical question concerning the activity of NAbs against cell-to-cell transmission: is NAb inhibition of cell-to-cell HIV-1 quantitatively or qualitatively different from cell-free infection? Overall, data consistently show that NAbs are capable of blocking HIV-1 infection at synapses, supporting the concept that cell-to-cell infection occurs through directed transfer of virions accessible to the external environment. However, more recent findings suggest that higher concentrations of certain NAbs might be needed to inhibit synaptic infection, with important potential implications for prophylactic vaccine development. We discuss several mechanistic explanations for this relative and selective loss of activity, and highlight gaps in knowledge that are still to be explored.
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spelling oxford-uuid:2f951e80-28e5-4728-aaa0-09bd68feaf9f2022-03-26T12:56:17ZCell-to-cell spread of HIV-1 and evasion of neutralizing antibodies.Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:2f951e80-28e5-4728-aaa0-09bd68feaf9fEnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford2013Schiffner, TSattentau, QDuncan, CCell-to-cell spread of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) between immune cells was first observed over 20 years ago. During this time, the question of whether this infection route favours viral evasion of neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) targeting the virus envelope glycoprotein (Env) has been repeatedly investigated, but with conflicting results. A clearer picture has formed in the last few years as more broadly neutralizing antibodies have been isolated and we gain further insight into the mechanisms of HIV-1 transmission at virological and infectious synapses. Nevertheless consensus is still lacking, a situation which may be at least partly explained by variability in the experimental approaches used to study the activity of NAbs in the cell-to-cell context. In this review we focus on the most critical question concerning the activity of NAbs against cell-to-cell transmission: is NAb inhibition of cell-to-cell HIV-1 quantitatively or qualitatively different from cell-free infection? Overall, data consistently show that NAbs are capable of blocking HIV-1 infection at synapses, supporting the concept that cell-to-cell infection occurs through directed transfer of virions accessible to the external environment. However, more recent findings suggest that higher concentrations of certain NAbs might be needed to inhibit synaptic infection, with important potential implications for prophylactic vaccine development. We discuss several mechanistic explanations for this relative and selective loss of activity, and highlight gaps in knowledge that are still to be explored.
spellingShingle Schiffner, T
Sattentau, Q
Duncan, C
Cell-to-cell spread of HIV-1 and evasion of neutralizing antibodies.
title Cell-to-cell spread of HIV-1 and evasion of neutralizing antibodies.
title_full Cell-to-cell spread of HIV-1 and evasion of neutralizing antibodies.
title_fullStr Cell-to-cell spread of HIV-1 and evasion of neutralizing antibodies.
title_full_unstemmed Cell-to-cell spread of HIV-1 and evasion of neutralizing antibodies.
title_short Cell-to-cell spread of HIV-1 and evasion of neutralizing antibodies.
title_sort cell to cell spread of hiv 1 and evasion of neutralizing antibodies
work_keys_str_mv AT schiffnert celltocellspreadofhiv1andevasionofneutralizingantibodies
AT sattentauq celltocellspreadofhiv1andevasionofneutralizingantibodies
AT duncanc celltocellspreadofhiv1andevasionofneutralizingantibodies