Anti-HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein (Env) antibodies without broadly neutralizing activity correlated with protection in the RV144 clinical trial, stimulating interest in other protective mechanisms involving antibodies, such as antibody-dependent cellmediated cytotoxicity (ADCC). Env epitopes targeted by many antibodies effective at mediating ADCC are poorly exposed on the unliganded Env trimer. Here we investigated the mechanism of exposure of ADCC epitopes on Env and showed that binding of Env and CD4 within the same HIV-1-infected cell effectively exposes these epitopes. Env capacity to transit to the CD4-bound conformation is required for ADCC epitope exposure. Importantly, cell surface CD4 downregulation by Nef and Vpu accessory proteins and Vpu-mediated BST-2 antagonism modulate exposure of ADCC-mediating epitopes and reduce the susceptibility of infected cells to this effector function in vitro. Significantly, Env conformational changes induced by cell surface CD4 are conserved among Env from HIV-1 and HIV-2/SIVmac lineages. Altogether, our observations describe a highly conserved mechanism required to expose ADCC epitopes that might help explain the evolutionary advantage of downregulation of cell surface CD4 by the HIV-1 Vpu and Nef proteins. IMPORTANCEHIV-1 envelope epitopes targeted by many antibodies effective at mediating antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) are poorly exposed on the unliganded envelope trimer. Here we investigated the mechanism of exposure of these epitopes and found that envelope interaction with the HIV-1 CD4 receptor is required to expose some of these epitopes. Moreover, our results suggest that HIV-1 CD4 downregulation might help avoid the killing of HIV-1-infected cells by this immune mechanism.

Recent studies have linked antibody Fc-mediated effector functions with protection or control of human immunodeficiency type 1 (HIV-1) and simian immunodeficiency (SIV) infections. Interestingly, the presence of antibodies with potent antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) activity in the Thai RV144 vaccine trial was suggested to correlate with decreased HIV-1 acquisition risk. These antibodies recently were found to recognize HIV envelope (Env) epitopes exposed upon Env-CD4 interaction. CD4 downregulation by Nef and Vpu, as well as Vpu-mediated BST-2 antagonism, were reported to modulate exposure of those CD4-induced HIV-1 Env epitopes and were proposed to play a role in reducing the susceptibility of infected cells to ADCC mediated by this class of antibodies. Here, we report the high prevalence of antibodies recognizing CD4-induced HIV-1 Env epitopes in sera from HIV-1-infected individuals, which correlated with their ability to mediate ADCC responses against HIV-1-infected cells, exposing these Env epitopes at the cell surface. Furthermore, our results indicate that Env variable regions V1, V2, V3, and V5 do not represent a major determinant for ADCC responses mediated by sera from HIV-1-infected individuals. Altogether, these findings suggest that HIV-1 tightly controls the exposure of certain Env epitopes at the surface of infected cells in order to prevent elimination by Fc-effector functions. IMPORTANCEHere, we identified a particular conformation of HIV-1 Env that is specifically targeted by ADCC-mediating antibodies present in sera from HIV-1-infected individuals. This observation suggests that HIV-1 developed sophisticated mechanisms to minimize the exposure of these epitopes at the surface of infected cells.

i Previous studies have shown that sera from HIV-1-infected individuals contain antibodies able to mediate antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC). These antibodies preferentially recognize envelope glycoprotein (Env) epitopes induced upon CD4 binding. Here, we show that a highly conserved tryptophan at position 69 of the gp120 inner domain is important for ADCC mediated by anti-cluster A antibodies and sera from HIV-1-infected individuals. Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection elicits a potent B cell response resulting in the production of antibodies (Abs) against the envelope glycoproteins (Env), which are exposed at the surface of viral particles and infected cells (1). We recently reported that these antibodies have the potential to eliminate HIV-1-infected cells by mediating antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) (2, 3). We found that these nonneutralizing CD4-induced (CD4i) ADCC-mediating antibodies are present in sera (2, 4), breast milk (4), and cervicovaginal lavage fluid (3, 4) of HIV-1-infected individuals and preferentially target Env in its CD4-bound "open" conformation. However, in order to evade ADCC responses, HIV-1 has developed a highly sophisticated strategy to keep Env at the surface of infected cells in the unbound "closed" conformation. HIV-1 accomplishes this through its accessory proteins Nef and Vpu, which decrease the overall amount of Env (via Vpu-mediated BST-2 downregulation) and CD4 at the cell surface (2, 5-7). In addition, decreased amounts of Env at the cell surface due to efficient internalization also help the virus to avoid ADCC responses (8). In agreement with the necessity for HIV-1 to avoid exposing Env in the CD4-bound conformation, we recently showed that forcing Env to adopt this conformation with small CD4 mimetics (CD4mc) sensitizes HIV-1-infected cells to ADCC mediated by sera, breast milk, and cervicovaginal fluids from HIV-1-infected subjects (4).Previous studies showed that the human monoclonal antibody (MAb) A32 targets an ADCC epitope commonly detected by antibodies present in sera from HIV-1-infected individuals (2, 5, 9, 10). Accordingly, an A32 Fab fragment blocked the majority of ADCC-mediating antibody (Ab) activity in plasma from chronically HIV-1-infected individuals (9). A subsequent study showed that the majority of ADCC responses were targeted against the gp120 core but not its variable regions V1, V2, V3, and V5 (2). Here, we evaluated the ADCC-mediating capacity of a panel of human antibodies targeting several well-defined epitopes in gp120 and gp41 and sera from randomly selected chronically HIV-1 clade B-infected individuals (HIV ϩ sera).We infected CEM.NKr cells with a panel of HIV-1 NL4.3-green fluorescent protein (GFP) constructs containing the ADA-Env and either wild-type or defective nef and vpu genes, as described previously (2, 5). Furthermore, we examined a wellcharacterized infectious molecular HIV-1 clone constructed from a transmitted/founder (T/F) virus (CH77) (11-14) containing intact or defective nef an...