Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40862550›Full record

ArticleJournal of virology2025

A modification to heptad repeat 1 of gp41 improves yield and/or quality of soluble pre-fusion HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein trimers.

Devidas N Chaturbhuj, Kwinten Sliepen, Albert Cupo, Benjamin Steinberg, Simon Kazimierczyk, Tarek Munawar, Kyle Kramer, Anila Yasmeen, Thales G Andrade, Wen-Hsin Lee and 14 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of virology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

24 authors.

Devidas N ChaturbhujDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-0276-0671
Kwinten SliepenDepartment of Medical Microbiology, Amsterdam University Medical Centres, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Albert CupoDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, USA.
Benjamin SteinbergDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, USA.
Simon KazimierczykDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, USA.
Tarek MunawarDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, USA.
Kyle KramerDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, USA.
Anila YasmeenDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, USA.
Thales G AndradeDepartment of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, USA.
Wen-Hsin LeeDepartment of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, USA.
Lara van der MaasDepartment of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, USA.
Grace GibsonDepartment of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, USA.
Oscar FelicianoDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, USA.
Ivan Del Moral SanchezDepartment of Medical Microbiology, Amsterdam University Medical Centres, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Edith SchermerDepartment of Medical Microbiology, Amsterdam University Medical Centres, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Rhianna BronsonVaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
Alison BennerVaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
Madhu PrabhakaranVaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
Rosemarie MasonVaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
P J KlasseDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-8222-278X
Andrew B WardDepartment of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-7153-3769
Gabriel OzorowskiDepartment of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-9695-8138
Rogier W SandersDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, USA.
John P MooreDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-9902-6096

Funding

Structural studies of native-like SOSIP trimersP01AI110657 · NIAID · WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV · PI MOORE, JOHN P · 2015 to 2024
$35.4M
Neutralization of Primate Immunodeficiency VirusesR01AI036082 · NIAID · WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV · PI JOHN P MOORE · 1994 to 2026
$4.3M
Gates Foundation INV-002022Gates Foundation INV-006351Gates Foundation INV-008573Gates Foundation INV-008818NIAID NIH HHS P01 AI110657NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI036082
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Native-like HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein (Env) trimers, exemplified by the SOSIP design, are widely used as immunogens, analytical antigens, and for structural studies. These vaccine research and development programs require trimers that are based on multiple HIV-1 genotypes. While a wide range of protein engineering strategies can produce SOSIP trimers from most Env gene sequences, there are still examples of trimers that are expressed only at impractically low yields or that are unstable. Accordingly, additional protein modifications aimed at overcoming such limitations need to be evaluated. Here, we describe a new heptad repeat 1 modification of gp41, known as dPG, that helps to further stabilize the gp41 component of prototypic and germline-targeting SOSIP trimers in the pre-fusion state and thereby increases post-purification yields substantially. The dPG modification involves a deletion (d) at the highly conserved 566 position that disrupts the heptad repeat and introduces proline (P) and glycine (G) substitutions at positions 567 and 568, respectively. We show that the dPG strategy reinforces previously described stabilization changes in existing SOSIP trimers and can rescue otherwise problematic trimer constructs. The latter includes trimers used to target or analyze human germline antibodies and others derived from the global HIV-1 neutralization panel. In summary, the dPG modification strategy can increase the yield and/or quality of Env trimers that are otherwise difficult to produce. IMPORTANCE: Stabilized, soluble, pre-fusion SOSIP trimers are widely used in HIV-1 Env vaccine research. Protein engineering techniques have identified multiple ways to stabilize SOSIP trimers from a range of genotypes. However, some SOSIP trimers remain difficult to express at adequate yields and/or purity, so there is a need for additional modifications. Here, we identified a sequence change, designated dPG, to the gp41 subunit that increases the yield and/or quality of various otherwise problematic SOSIP trimers without compromising their antigenicity or structure. This new modification may have general value for HIV-1 vaccine research and development.

Indexed as

env Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency VirusHIV-1HIV Envelope Protein gp41AIDS VaccinesAntibodies, NeutralizingHEK293 CellsHIV AntibodiesHumansProtein EngineeringProtein MultimerizationAIDS VaccinesAntibodies, Neutralizingenv Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virusgp41 protein, Human immunodeficiency virus 1HIV AntibodiesHIV Envelope Protein gp41Env glycoproteinglobal virus panelgp41heptad repeatHIV-1SOSIPtrimervaccine

Identifiers

PMID40862550
PMCPMC12455988

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.