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Conformational alterations in the CD4 binding cavity of HIV-1 gp120 influencing gp120-CD4 interactions and fusogenicity of HIV-1 envelopes derived from brain and other tissues Gray, L, Sterjovski, J, Ramsland, P, Churchill, M and Gorry, P 2011, 'Conformational alterations in the CD4 binding cavity of HIV-1 gp120 influencing gp120-CD4 interactions and fusogenicity of HIV-1 envelopes derived from brain and other tissues', Retrovirology, vol. 8, no. 42, pp. 1-9. Document type: Journal Article Collection: Journal Articles Title Conformational alterations in the CD4 binding cavity of HIV-1 gp120 influencing gp120-CD4 interactions and fusogenicity of HIV-1 envelopes derived from brain and other tissues Author(s) Gray, L Sterjovski, J Ramsland, P Churchill, M Gorry, P Year 2011 Journal name Retrovirology Volume number 8 Issue number 42 Start page 1 End page 9 Total pages 9 Publisher BioMed Central Abstract Background CD4-binding site (CD4bs) alterations in gp120 contribute to HIV-1 envelope (Env) mediated fusogenicity and the ability of gp120 to utilize low levels of cell-surface CD4. In a recent study, we constructed three-dimensional models of gp120 to illustrate CD4bs conformations associated with enhanced fusogenicity and enhanced CD4-usage of a modestly-sized panel of blood-derived HIV-1 Envs (n = 16). These conformations were characterized by a wider aperture of the CD4bs cavity, as constrained by the inner-most atoms at the gp120 V1V2 stem and the V5 loop. Here, we sought to provide further validation of the utility of these models for understanding mechanisms that influence Env function, by characterizing the structure-function relationships of a larger panel of Envs derived from brain and other tissues (n = 81). Findings Three-dimensional models of gp120 were generated by our recently validated homology modelling protocol. Analysis of predicted CD4bs structures showed correlations between the aperture width of the CD4bs cavity and ability of the Envs to mediate cell-cell fusion, scavenge low-levels of cell-surface CD4, bind directly to soluble CD4, and bind to the Env mAb IgG1b12 whose epitope overlaps the gp120 CD4bs. These structural alterations in the CD4bs cavity were associated with repositioning of the V5 loop. Conclusions Using a large, independent panel of Envs, we can confirm the utility of three-dimensional gp120 structural models for illustrating CD4bs alterations that can affect Env function. Furthermore, we now provide new evidence that these CD4bs alterations augment the ability of gp120 to interact with CD4 by increasing the exposure of the CD4bs. Subject Structural Biology (incl. Macromolecular Modelling) Virology DOI - identifier 10.1186/1742-4690-8-42 Copyright notice © 2011 Gray et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ISSN 1742-4690 Related Links Link Description http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1742-4690-8-42 Link to Published Version   Versions Version Filter Type Wed, 03 Feb 2016, 09:21:37 EST Thu, 15 Jun 2017, 11:51:32 EST Tue, 02 Oct 2018, 10:57:12 EST Filtered Full Citation counts:   Cited 9 times in Thomson Reuters Web of Science Article | Citations Cited 9 times in Scopus Article | Citations Altmetric details: Access Statistics: 37 Abstract Views  -  Detailed Statistics Created: Wed, 03 Feb 2016, 09:16:00 EST by Catalyst Administrator