Complementary antibody lineages achieve neutralization breadth in an HIV-1 infected elite neutralizer.

Broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) have remarkable breadth and potency against most HIV-1 subtypes and are able to prevent HIV-1 infection in animal models. However, bNAbs are extremely difficult to induce by vaccination. Defining the developmental pathways towards neutralization breadth can assist in the design of strategies to elicit protective bNAb responses by vaccination. Here, HIV-1 envelope glycoproteins (Env)-specific IgG+ B cells were isolated at various time points post infection from an HIV-1 infected elite neutralizer to obtain monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). Multiple antibody lineages were isolated targeting distinct epitopes on Env, including the gp120-gp41 interface, CD4-binding site, silent face and V3 region. The mAbs each neutralized a diverse set of HIV-1 strains from different clades indicating that the patient's remarkable serum breadth and potency might have been the result of a polyclonal mixture rather than a single bNAb lineage. High-resolution cryo-electron microscopy structures of the neutralizing mAbs (NAbs) in complex with an Env trimer generated from the same individual revealed that the NAbs used multiple strategies to neutralize the virus; blocking the receptor binding site, binding to HIV-1 Env N-linked glycans, and disassembly of the trimer. These results show that diverse NAbs can complement each other to achieve a broad and potent neutralizing serum response in HIV-1 infected individuals. Hence, the induction of combinations of moderately broad NAbs might be a viable vaccine strategy to protect against a wide range of circulating HIV-1 viruses.

Nitrosopurines en route to potently cytotoxic asmarines.

A nitrosopurine ene reaction easily assembles the asmarine pharmacophore and transmits remote stereochemistry to the diazepine-purine hetereocycle. This reaction generates potent cytotoxins which exceed the potency of asmarine A (1.2 µM IC50) and supersede the metabolites as useful leads for biological discovery.

Small-molecule procaspase activators identified using fluorescence polarization.

Wake up, protein! Small molecules that directly activate proteins are rare and their discovery opens new avenues for the development of drugs and chemical tools to probe the functions and mechanisms of protein targets. To address the one-sided dichotomy between enzyme inhibition and activation, we describe a series of procaspase activators as chemical tools in the study of caspase biology.

Lassa virus glycoprotein nanoparticles elicit neutralizing antibody responses and protection.

The Lassa virus is endemic in parts of West Africa, and it causes hemorrhagic fever with high mortality. The development of a recombinant protein vaccine has been hampered by the instability of soluble Lassa virus glycoprotein complex (GPC) trimers, which disassemble into monomeric subunits after expression. Here, we use two-component protein nanoparticles consisting of trimeric and pentameric subunits to stabilize GPC in a trimeric conformation. These GPC nanoparticles present twenty prefusion GPC trimers on the surface of an icosahedral particle. Cryo-EM studies of GPC nanoparticles demonstrated a well-ordered structure and yielded a high-resolution structure of an unliganded GPC. These nanoparticles induced potent humoral immune responses in rabbits and protective immunity against the lethal Lassa virus challenge in guinea pigs. Additionally, we isolated a neutralizing antibody that mapped to the putative receptor-binding site, revealing a previously undefined site of vulnerability. Collectively, these findings offer potential approaches to vaccine and therapeutic design for the Lassa virus.

Antibody Conjugates for Targeted Therapy Against HIV-1 as an Emerging Tool for HIV-1 Cure.

Although advances in antiretroviral therapy (ART) have significantly improved the life expectancy of people living with HIV-1 (PLWH) by suppressing HIV-1 replication, a cure for HIV/AIDS remains elusive. Recent findings of the emergence of drug resistance against various ART have resulted in an increased number of treatment failures, thus the development of novel strategies for HIV-1 cure is of immediate need. Antibody-based therapy is a well-established tool in the treatment of various diseases and the engineering of new antibody derivatives is expanding the realms of its application. An antibody-based carrier of anti-HIV-1 molecules, or antibody conjugates (ACs), could address the limitations of current HIV-1 ART by decreasing possible off-target effects, reduce toxicity, increasing the therapeutic index, and lowering production costs. Broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) with exceptional breadth and potency against HIV-1 are currently being explored to prevent or treat HIV-1 infection in the clinic. Moreover, bNAbs can be engineered to deliver cytotoxic or immune regulating molecules as ACs, further increasing its therapeutic potential for HIV-1 cure. ACs are currently an important component of anticancer treatment with several FDA-approved constructs, however, to date, no ACs are approved to treat viral infections. This review aims to outline the development of AC for HIV-1 cure, examine the variety of carriers and payloads used, and discuss the potential of ACs in the current HIV-1 cure landscape.

Synthesis and Sulfur Electrophilicity of the Nuphar Thiaspirane Pharmacophore.

We describe a general method to synthesize the iminium tetrahydrothiophene embedded in the dimeric Nuphar alkaloids. In contrast to prior studies, the sulfur atom of the thiaspirane pharmacophore is shown to be electrophilic. This α-thioether reacts with thiophenol or glutathione at ambient temperature to cleave the C-S bond and form a disulfide. Rates of conversion are proportional to the corresponding ammonium ion pK a and exhibit half-lives less than 5 h at a 5 mM concentration of thiol. A simple thiophane analogue of the Nuphar dimers causes apoptosis at single-digit micromolar concentration and labels reactive cysteines at similar levels as the unsaturated iminium "warhead". Our experiments combined with prior observations suggest the sulfur of the Nuphar dimers can react as an electrophile in cellular environments and that sulfur-triggered retrodimerization can occur in the cell.

Selective inhibition of initiator versus executioner caspases using small peptides containing unnatural amino acids.

Caspases are fundamental to many essential biological processes, including apoptosis, differentiation, and inflammation. Unregulated caspase activity is also implicated in the development and progression of several diseases, such as cancer, neurodegenerative disorders, and sepsis. Unfortunately, it is difficult to determine exactly which caspase(s) of the 11 isoforms that humans express is responsible for specific biological functions. This lack of resolution is primarily due to highly homologous active sites and overlapping substrates. Currently available peptide-based inhibitors and probes are based on specificity garnered from peptide substrate libraries. For example, the canonical tetrapeptide LETD was discovered as the canonical sequence that is optimally recognized by caspase-8; however, LETD-based inhibitors and substrates promiscuously bind to other isoforms with equal affinity, including caspases-3, -6, and -9. In order to mitigate this problem, we report the identification of a new series of compounds that are >100-fold selective for inhibiting the initiator caspases-8 and -9 over the executioner caspases-3, -6, and -7.