iScience (Nov 2020)

Glycan Positioning Impacts HIV-1 Env Glycan-Shield Density, Function, and Recognition by Antibodies

  • Qing Wei,
  • Audra A. Hargett,
  • Barbora Knoppova,
  • Alexandra Duverger,
  • Reda Rawi,
  • Chen-Hsiang Shen,
  • S. Katie Farney,
  • Stacy Hall,
  • Rhubell Brown,
  • Brandon F. Keele,
  • Sonya L. Heath,
  • Michael S. Saag,
  • Olaf Kutsch,
  • Gwo-Yu Chuang,
  • Peter D. Kwong,
  • Zina Moldoveanu,
  • Milan Raska,
  • Matthew B. Renfrow,
  • Jan Novak

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 23, no. 11
p. 101711

Abstract

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Summary: HIV-1 envelope (Env) N-glycosylation impact virus-cell entry and immune evasion. How each glycan interacts to shape the Env-protein-sugar complex and affects Env function is not well understood. Here, analysis of two Env variants from the same donor, with differing functional characteristics and N-glycosylation-site composition, revealed that changes to key N-glycosylation sites affected the Env structure at distant locations and had a ripple effect on Env-wide glycan processing, virus infectivity, antibody recognition, and virus neutralization. Specifically, the N262 glycan, although not in the CD4-binding site, modulated Env binding to the CD4 receptor, affected Env recognition by several glycan-dependent neutralizing antibodies, and altered site-specific glycosylation heterogeneity, with, for example, N448 displaying limited glycan processing. Molecular-dynamic simulations visualized differences in glycan density and how specific oligosaccharide positions can move to compensate for a glycan loss. This study demonstrates how changes in individual glycans can alter molecular dynamics, processing, and function of the Env-glycan shield.

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