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J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 280, Issue 22, 21353-21357, June 3, 2005
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From the
Institut de Biologie Structurale, CNRS-Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique-Université Joseph Fourier, UMR 5075, 41 Rue Horowitz, 38027 Grenoble, France, the
Centre de Recherches sur les Macromolécules Végétales-CNRS (affiliated with Université Joseph Fourier), 38041 Grenoble, France, and the ¶Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3RE, United Kingdom
Received for publication, January 25, 2005 , and in revised form, March 18, 2005.
| ABSTRACT |
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| INTRODUCTION |
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The surface envelope glycoprotein gp120 features all of the binding determinants for both attachment and entry receptors and constitutes the central element for all interactive events occurring during the pre-entry steps. Accordingly, this molecule is structurally complex and exhibits unusual features. It consists of a core structure organized into an inner domain, an outer domain, a bridging sheet spanning these two domains, which appears to be partially unfolded or disordered, and five surface-exposed variable loops, V1 to V5 (4). Binding to CD4 triggers extensive structural alterations in gp120. These include shifts of the V1/V2 and V3 loops and drive the exposure and/or conformational changes of a region within the bridging sheet called the CD4-induced (CD4i) epitope (5, 6). In conjunction with the V3 loop, this region makes up the binding site for chemokine-receptors (7, 8).
The V3 loop is also an essential determinant of HS recognition (9). HS is a sulfated polysaccharide of the glycosaminoglycan family characterized by wide interactive properties and critical functions in many biological processes (10). In particular, a large number of viruses interact productively with HS, a binding that facilitates attachment to host cells and subsequent infection (11).
It has been known for a long time that removal of cell surface HS or the use of soluble glycosaminoglycans, including heparin (HP) and HS as competing agents, reduced both HIV attachment and infection on several cell lines, including CD4-positive HeLa cells, macrophages, and T-cell lines (1214). HS was thus thought to increase infectivity by favoring viral particle concentration at the cell surface. However, recent evidence has suggested that the role of HS in HIV infection goes well beyond that of a low specificity pre-attachment site. In macrophages, HS can compensate for a low level of CD4 expression during viral attachment and modulate HIV replication (14). HS expressed by CD4 negative brain endothelial cells has been shown to play a crucial role in HIV entry (15). In addition, it has been reported that cell surface HS preserved HIV infectivity for days, enhanced in trans infectivity, and provided conditions that boosted replication in T-cells (16).
Using surface plasmon resonance to analyze the binding of gp120 to HS, we reported that this interaction did not fit any simple binding model (17). This could be the result of the protein's intrinsic flexibility or indicate the existence of multiple binding motifs. A clarification of gp120/HS binding determinants would thus help in understanding the role of this interaction during infection and provide insights into unexplored modes of therapeutic intervention. To further characterize the binding of gp120 to HS, we investigated whether CD4-induced conformational change in gp120 had any impact on its HS binding properties. This was performed on gp120 from the laboratory-adapted HIV-1 isolate HXBc2, the core structure, receptor binding, and interaction of which with neutralizing antibodies are similar to those of a primary clinical isolate (18). We found that gp120 in its CD4-bound state had substantially increased binding to HS as compared with free gp120 and demonstrated by experimental analysis and molecular modeling that the HS binding site on gp120 is made up of the previously identified V3 loop and the CD4-induced, chemokine receptor binding region.
| MATERIALS AND METHODS |
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The loop search method of the SYBYL software, based on a library of three-dimensional loop structures, was used to build the V3 peptide using the HXBc2 amino acid sequence. A series of conformations were generated and investigated. The selected conformation, a hairpin form with two
-strands associated in antiparallel way, displayed strong similarity with the V3 loop conformation demonstrated by NMR study (23).
Different models of heparin fragments were taken from a homemade conformational library, the construction of which has been described in detail previously (supporting information of Ref. 24) (25). These fragments varied in length, in the occurrence of 2S0 and 1C4 ring shapes for the iduronic acid, and in the conformations at each glycosidic linkage that were randomly chosen from the energy minima of the conformational maps calculated previously (26, 27).
Atom types and partial charges were defined according to the PIM energy parameters for carbohydrates (28). From this library, the oligosaccharides that displayed a shape appropriate for fitting their sulfate groups with the lowest GRID-determined iso-energy contours of gp120 were selected. The polysaccharide chains were merged with the protein structure in the docking mode that brings the sulfate in close contact with the protein surface without generating steric conflicts. The geometry of each of these complexes was optimized by several cycles of energy minimization. Hydrogen atoms and pendent groups were optimized first. Finally the whole heparin moiety, together with the side chains of the amino acids in the positively charged area, were fully optimized. All energy calculations were performed with the Tripos force field (29) together with energy parameters specially derived for carbohydrates and sulfated derivatives (28).
| RESULTS AND DISCUSSION |
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One of the conformational changes induced by CD4 is the shift of the V1/V2 and V3 loops. A first hypothesis would thus be that CD4-induced conformational changes of gp120 could favor HS binding by improving accessibility of the V3 loop and/or stabilizing its structure into a conformation better recognized by HS. However, molecular dynamic analyses indicated that if binding to CD4 substantially decreased the mobility of several regions of gp120, the V3 loop, although displaced, remains highly mobile (30). Moreover, a survey of the structural features of HS binding domains in a variety of proteins showed no absolute dependence on protein fold (31). Taken together, these data make it unlikely that V3 loop structural change would dramatically modify HS binding. Alternatively, sCD4 binding could trigger the display of new HS binding motifs within gp120.
The CD4i Region on gp120 Displays Features of a Typical Heparin Binding SiteA molecular modeling approach was used to locate putative HP binding sites on the core structure of gp120. This approach was initially developed and experimentally validated for analysis of the chemokine family, of which all members bind HP (24). Examination of the gp120 electrostatic surface, using the structural data of the core glycoprotein in the CD4-bound form, revealed that the CD4i region was the most likely HP binding site. In particular, amino acids Lys-121, Arg-419, Lys-421, and Lys-432 form a cluster of positively charged residues located between the stems of the V1/V2 and V3 loops and are organized as a possible HP binding site (Fig. 2A). This discontinuous surface has a linear shape extending up to 25 Å and can accommodate an oligosaccharide of eight sugar residues in length (Fig. 2, B and C). This observation was confirmed by a GRID analysis of the gp120 surface that was used to predict the most favorable anchoring position group, with an oxygen atom from a sulfate group serving as a probe for the calculation (not shown).
Heparin and Heparin-derived Oligosaccharides Inhibit the Binding of mAb 17b to gp120 in the Presence of sCD4To assess the molecular modeling predictions of a HP-binding surface overlapping the CD4i region, we immobilized mAb 17b onto a sensor chip. mAb 17b belongs to the CD4i antibody family and recognizes an epitope on the gp120 bridging sheet that is exposed upon CD4 binding (32). Such mAbs, whose epitopes overlap the gp120 coreceptor binding domain, are widely used in interaction assays as coreceptor surrogates. In the absence of sCD4, a low concentration of gp120 (5 nM) failed to significantly interact with the 17b immobilized sensor chip surface (not shown). In contrast, the gp120/sCD4 complex, in which the CD4i region is optimally presented, bound well to 17b (Fig. 3A, top curve). Pre-incubation of gp120/sCD4 complexes with HP reduced binding to the 17b-activated surface, with an almost complete inhibition at concentrations as low as 16 nM (Fig. 3A, bottom curve). It is worth noting that among the four basic amino acids that we predicted would interact with HP, three of them (Lys-121, Arg-419, and Lys-421) are involved in mAb 17b recognition (7). Our experimental observation of mAb 17b/HP competition for binding to gp120 thus supports our model further. Similar results were obtained when the related mAb 48d was substituted for 17b and HS was used instead of HP (not shown).
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-strands (
2,
3,
20, and
21), is absent in the unliganded state of the protein where
2-
3 and
20-
21 are spaced apart on the structure (33). Thus, the reorganization of gp120 induced by CD4 binding, rather than by exposing a previously masked surface, brings together the residues Lys-121 (in the
2-strand) and Lys-421 and Lys-432 (in the
20-
21 strands) that collectively form a new HP binding surface. Protein-HP binding is well known to induce protein conformational changes. The most documented example is that of antithrombin III, the binding of which to activated factor X is dependent on such HP-induced modifications (34). In contrast, the present work is probably one of the first examples in which a protein-induced conformational change primed another protein for HP recognition.
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Because the CD4i region comprises the coreceptor binding site, another important aspect of our study is that HP binds to the same surface as the CXCR4 coreceptor. This finding identifies the CD4i region as a potential target-using compound based on heparin-like structures (see below).
The V3 Loop and the CD4i Epitope Form a Single Extended Heparin Binding Site on the gp120 SurfaceTo study further the structural basis of gp120/HP interaction, the V3 loop that was missing in the available x-ray structure of gp120 was modeled and replaced on the protein core. Conformations of the V3 loop are available from NMR (23) and crystallography (37). In these structural studies the loop is bound to an antibody and not connected to the gp120 core, and, therefore, a molecular modeling approach was preferred here. Among the large panel of possible conformations, an extended
-hairpin close to the NMR conformation was selected. (Fig. 4). Such a shape was predicted to not interfere with oligomerization (18). Interestingly, in this model the basic sequence located at the V3 loop stem lined up with the HP binding site on the CD4i surface to form an extended binding domain. Various HP fragments selected from a library of oligosaccharide conformations were docked onto the gp120 V3 loop using the Tripos force field energy calculation. A tetradecasaccharide (dp14) enabled the bridging of CD4i and V3 loop binding sites (Fig. 4). Although V3 loop interaction with HP/HS is well established, the amino acids involved in the binding have not been identified. Our data suggest an involvement of Arg-304, Arg-306, Arg-308, and Arg-327 within the V3 loop. Because the V3 loop is predicted to be flexible, a variety of other shapes could be accommodated. Nevertheless, taking into account the flexibility of HP and the location of the CD4i region at the V3 loop stem, it is most likely that the polysaccharide could accommodate any V3 loop conformation and still interact with both binding regions. Experimental data will be required to confirm the importance of the amino acids for HP binding in both regions. These aspects will be investigated, either by using the "beads sequencing approach" reported recently (38) or by site-directed mutagenesis.
The physiological role of HS/CD4i interaction that we described here remains unclear but may shed light on the observation that cell surface HS enhances the infection of isolates that feature a highly positively charged V3 loop sequence (X4) but either has no effect on or inhibits infection by other (R5) strains (39). It has been calculated that, over a distance and with a high charge, the contribution of the V3 loop dominates gp120 electrostatic potential, a feature that could be used for initial attraction of the viral Env toward the cell surface before CD4 engagement and is consistent with the HS-mediated increase in infectivity. However, at short distances and with a low V3 loop charge, the protein core contributes more significantly to the electrostatic potential (40). In such a situation, the only HS binding area, the CD4i epitope, would be exposed after CD4 engagement at the cell surface. The possible competition between coreceptor and HS for interaction with the CD4i surface may therefore explain the inhibitory activity of cell surface HS toward R5 HIV strains.
Finally, one implication of this study concerns polyanion-based inhibitors of HIV interactions with both attachment and entry receptors. Among the most promising recent approaches is the blockade of viral entry into target cells (41) and the polyanionic compounds that are about to enter phase III efficacy trials as microbicides (42). Based on the finding that the highly conserved coreceptor binding region directly interacts with HS after CD4 binding, we are currently investigating the covalent linkage between sCD4- and HS-derived oligosaccharides. Such a molecule would bind to gp120 through its CD4 moiety and expose or fold the CD4i domain, which would then become available for interaction with the oligosaccharide. This molecule would thus simultaneously block the binding of the virus to the cell surface HS, CD4, and the coreceptor.
| FOOTNOTES |
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|| To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel.: 33-438-784-485; Fax: 33-438-785-494; E-mail: Hugues.Lortat-Jacob{at}ibs.fr.
1 The abbreviations used are: HIV, human immunodeficiency virus; CD4i, CD4-induced; HP, heparin; HS, heparan sulfate; mAb, monoclonal antibody; sCD4, soluble CD4. ![]()
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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| REFERENCES |
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