Università della Svizzera italiana

Crystal structure and size-dependent neutralization properties of HK20, a human monoclonal antibody binding to the highly conserved heptad repeat 1 of gp41

Sabin, Charles ; Corti, Davide ; Buzon, Victor ; Seaman, Mike S. ; Hulsik, David Lutje ; Hinz, Andreas ; Vanzetta, Fabrizia ; Agatic, Gloria ; Silacci, Chiara ; Mainetti, Lara ; Scarlatti, Gabriella ; Sallusto, Federica ; Weiss, Robin ; Lanzavecchia, Antonio ; Weissenhorn, Winfried

In: Plos pathogens, 2010, vol. 6, no. 11, p. e1001195

The human monoclonal antibody (mAb) HK20 neutralizes a broad spectrum of primary HIV-1 isolates by targeting the highly conserved heptad repeat 1 (HR1) of gp41, which is transiently exposed during HIV-1 entry. Here we present the crystal structure of the HK20 Fab in complex with a gp41 mimetic 5-Helix at 2.3 A° resolution. HK20 employs its heavy chain CDR H2 and H3 loops to bind into a...