Monoclonal antibodies against human immunodeficiency virus type 1 integrase: epitope mapping and differential effects on integrase activities in vitro.

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) integrase (IN) catalyzes the integration of viral DNA into the host chromosome, an essential step in retroviral replication. As a tool to study the structure and function of this enzyme, monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) against HIV-1 IN were produced. Epitope mapping demonstrated that the 17 MAbs obtained could be divided into seven different groups, and the selection of MAbs representing these groups were tested for their effect on in vitro activities of IN. Four groups of MAbs recognized epitopes within the region of amino acids (aa) 1 to 16, 17 to 38, or 42 to 55 in and around the conserved HHCC motif near the N terminus of IN. MAbs binding to these epitopes inhibited end processing and DNA joining and either stimulated or had little effect on disintegration and reintegration activities of IN. Two MAbs binding to epitopes within the region of aa 56 to 102 in the central core or aa 186 to 250 in the C-terminal half of the protein showed only minor effects on the in vitro activities of IN. Three Mabs which recognized on epitope within the region of aa262 to 271 of HIV-1 IN cross-reacted with HIV-2 IN. MAbs binding to this epitope clearly inhibited end processing and DNA joining and stimulated or had little effect on disintegration. In contrast to the N-terminal-specific MAbs, these C-terminal-specific MAbs abolished reintegration activity of IN.

Characterization of the DNA-binding activity of HIV-1 integrase using a filter binding assay.

Based on the selective binding of proteins and DNA to distinct filter materials a double-layered dot blot radio assay was developed to evaluate the binding of DNA to HIV-1 integrase. In this assay the DNA-binding was found to be independent of Mn2+ concentration, inhibited by concentrations of Mg2+ above 5 mM, abolished by zinc chelation and inhibited by monoclonal antibodies reacting with either the N-terminal or C-terminal regions of integrase. Atomic absorption spectroscopy revealed the molar ratio between integrase and zinc to be close to 1. It is concluded that both the N-terminal and the C-terminal regions of integrase are involved in DNA-binding and that the reported double-layered dot blot radio assay is well suited for further characterization of the integrase.

Epitope mapping of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase with monoclonal antibodies that inhibit polymerase and RNase H activities.

Lysates from E. coli expressing HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT) as a TrpE fusion protein were used for immunization of BALB/c mice. Twenty hybridomas producing monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) recognizing the RT part of the TrpE-RT fusion protein by Western blot analysis were isolated. Of these, 18 were reactive in immunofluorescence assays when tested on HIV-infected cells. Twelve MAbs were reactive with both the p66 and p51 fragments of RT, while 6 of the MAbs were reactive only with the p66 band, indicating specificity for the C-terminal (RNase H) region of RT. Mapping of the monoclonal antibody binding sites was performed using deletion and insertion mutants of recombinant RT. The antibodies bound to five distinct regions within amino acid sequences 190-560 of RT. In order to map functionally important regions of the RT molecule, the MAbs were tested for their ability to interfere with the polymerase and RNase H activities of the polypeptide. MAbs binding to two different epitopes in the polymerase domain were found to inhibit the polymerase activity. Of these, three MAbs also inhibited the RNase H activity. Two MAbs binding to the same epitope in the RNase H region inhibited RNase H activity and further mediated an effect on the polymerase activity.