IGHV1-69 B cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia antibodies cross-react with HIV-1 and hepatitis C virus antigens as well as intestinal commensal bacteria.

B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) patients expressing unmutated immunoglobulin heavy variable regions (IGHVs) use the IGHV1-69 B cell receptor (BCR) in 25% of cases. Since HIV-1 envelope gp41 antibodies also frequently use IGHV1-69 gene segments, we hypothesized that IGHV1-69 B-CLL precursors may contribute to the gp41 B cell response during HIV-1 infection. To test this hypothesis, we rescued 5 IGHV1-69 unmutated antibodies as heterohybridoma IgM paraproteins and as recombinant IgG1 antibodies from B-CLL patients, determined their antigenic specificities and analyzed BCR sequences. IGHV1-69 B-CLL antibodies were enriched for reactivity with HIV-1 envelope gp41, influenza, hepatitis C virus E2 protein and intestinal commensal bacteria. These IGHV1-69 B-CLL antibodies preferentially used IGHD3 and IGHJ6 gene segments and had long heavy chain complementary determining region 3s (HCDR3s) (≥21 aa). IGHV1-69 B-CLL BCRs exhibited a phenylalanine at position 54 (F54) of the HCDR2 as do rare HIV-1 gp41 and influenza hemagglutinin stem neutralizing antibodies, while IGHV1-69 gp41 antibodies induced by HIV-1 infection predominantly used leucine (L54) allelic variants. These results demonstrate that the B-CLL cell population is an expansion of members of the innate polyreactive B cell repertoire with reactivity to a number of infectious agent antigens including intestinal commensal bacteria. The B-CLL IGHV1-69 B cell usage of F54 allelic variants strongly suggests that IGHV1-69 B-CLL gp41 antibodies derive from a restricted B cell pool that also produces rare HIV-1 gp41 and influenza hemagglutinin stem antibodies.

Vaccine induction of antibodies against a structurally heterogeneous site of immune pressure within HIV-1 envelope protein variable regions 1 and 2.

The RV144 HIV-1 trial of the canary pox vector (ALVAC-HIV) plus the gp120 AIDSVAX B/E vaccine demonstrated an estimated efficacy of 31%, which correlated directly with antibodies to HIV-1 envelope variable regions 1 and 2 (V1-V2). Genetic analysis of trial viruses revealed increased vaccine efficacy against viruses matching the vaccine strain at V2 residue 169. Here, we isolated four V2 monoclonal antibodies from RV144 vaccinees that recognize residue 169, neutralize laboratory-adapted HIV-1, and mediate killing of field-isolate HIV-1-infected CD4(+) T cells. Crystal structures of two of the V2 antibodies demonstrated that residue 169 can exist within divergent helical and loop conformations, which contrasted dramatically with the ß strand conformation previously observed with a broadly neutralizing antibody PG9. Thus, RV144 vaccine-induced immune pressure appears to target a region that may be both sequence variable and structurally polymorphic. Variation may signal sites of HIV-1 envelope vulnerability, providing vaccine designers with new options.

Enhanced outgrowth of EBV-transformed chronic lymphocytic leukemia B cells mediated by coculture with macrophage feeder cells.

B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) is characterized by the clonal expansion of CD5-expressing B lymphocytes that produce mAbs often reactive with microbial or autoantigens. Long-term culture of B-CLL clones would permit the collection and characterization of B-CLL mAbs to study antigen specificity and of B-CLL DNA to investigate molecular mechanisms promoting the disease. However, the derivation of long-term cell lines (eg, by EBV), has not been efficient. We have improved the efficiency of EBV B-CLL transformation of CpG oligonucleotide-stimulated cells by incubating patient peripheral blood mononuclear cells in the presence of an irradiated mouse macrophage cell line, J774A.1. Using this approach, peripheral blood mononuclear cells isolated from 13 of 21 B-CLL patients were transformed as documented by IGHV-D-J sequencing. Four clones grew and retained CD5 expression in culture for 2 to 4 months. However, despite documentation of EBV infection by expression of EBNA2 and LMP1, B-CLL cells died after removal of macrophage feeder cells. Nevertheless, using electrofusion technology, we generated 6 stable hetero-hybridoma cell lines from EBV-transformed B-CLL cells, and these hetero-hybridomas produced immunoglobulin. Thus, we have established enhanced methods of B-CLL culture that will enable broader interrogation of B-CLL cells at the genetic and protein levels.

Long-term efficacy following readministration of an adeno-associated virus vector in dogs with glycogen storage disease type Ia.

Glycogen storage disease type Ia (GSD-Ia) is the inherited deficiency of glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase), primarily found in liver and kidney, which causes life-threatening hypoglycemia. Dogs with GSD-Ia were treated with double-stranded adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors encoding human G6Pase. Administration of an AAV9 pseudotyped (AAV2/9) vector to seven consecutive GSD-Ia neonates prevented hypoglycemia during fasting for up to 8 hr; however, efficacy eventually waned between 2 and 30 months of age, and readministration of a new pseudotype was eventually required to maintain control of hypoglycemia. Three of these dogs succumbed to acute hypoglycemia between 7 and 9 weeks of age; however, this demise could have been prevented by earlier readministration an AAV vector, as demonstrated by successful prevention of mortality of three dogs treated earlier in life. Over the course of this study, six out of nine dogs survived after readministration of an AAV vector. Of these, each dog required readministration on average every 9 months. However, two were not retreated until >34 months of age, while one with preexisting antibodies was re-treated three times in 10 months. Glycogen content was normalized in the liver following vector administration, and G6Pase activity was increased in the liver of vector-treated dogs in comparison with GSD-Ia dogs that received only with dietary treatment. G6Pase activity reached approximately 40% of normal in two female dogs following AAV2/9 vector administration. Elevated aspartate transaminase in absence of inflammation indicated that hepatocellular turnover in the liver might drive the loss of vector genomes. Survival was prolonged for up to 60 months in dogs treated by readministration, and all dogs treated by readministration continue to thrive despite the demonstrated risk for recurrent hypoglycemia and mortality from waning efficacy of the AAV2/9 vector. These preclinical data support the further translation of AAV vector-mediated gene therapy in GSD-Ia.

Anti-phospholipid human monoclonal antibodies inhibit CCR5-tropic HIV-1 and induce beta-chemokines.

Traditional antibody-mediated neutralization of HIV-1 infection is thought to result from the binding of antibodies to virions, thus preventing virus entry. However, antibodies that broadly neutralize HIV-1 are rare and are not induced by current vaccines. We report that four human anti-phospholipid monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) (PGN632, P1, IS4, and CL1) inhibit HIV-1 CCR5-tropic (R5) primary isolate infection of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) with 80% inhibitory concentrations of <0.02 to approximately 10 microg/ml. Anti-phospholipid mAbs inhibited PBMC HIV-1 infection in vitro by mechanisms involving binding to monocytes and triggering the release of MIP-1alpha and MIP-1beta. The release of these beta-chemokines explains both the specificity for R5 HIV-1 and the activity of these mAbs in PBMC cultures containing both primary lymphocytes and monocytes.

AAV vector-mediated reversal of hypoglycemia in canine and murine glycogen storage disease type Ia.

Glycogen storage disease type Ia (GSD-Ia) profoundly impairs glucose release by the liver due to glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase) deficiency. An adeno-associated virus (AAV) containing a small human G6Pase transgene was pseudotyped with AAV8 (AAV2/8) to optimize liver tropism. Survival was prolonged in 2-week-old G6Pase (-/-) mice by 600-fold fewer AAV2/8 vector particles (vp), in comparison to previous experiments involving this model (2 x 10(9) vp; 3 x 10(11) vp/kg). When the vector was pseudotyped with AAV1, survival was prolonged only at a higher dose (3 x 10(13) vp/kg). The AAV2/8 vector uniquely prevented hypoglycemia during fasting and fully corrected liver G6Pase deficiency in GSD-Ia mice and dogs. The AAV2/8 vector has prolonged survival in three GSD-Ia dogs to >11 months, which validated this strategy in the large animal model for GSD-Ia. Urinary biomarkers, including lactate and 3-hydroxybutyrate, were corrected by G6Pase expression solely in the liver. Glycogen accumulation in the liver was reduced almost to the normal level in vector-treated GSD-Ia mice and dogs, as was the hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) in GSD-Ia mice. These preclinical data demonstrated the efficacy of correcting hepatic G6Pase deficiency, and support the further preclinical development of AAV vector-mediated gene therapy for GSD-Ia.