The N-terminal of the V3 loop in HIV type 1 gp120 is responsible for its conformation-dependent interaction with cell surface molecules.

The V3 loop of HIV-1 gp120 plays an important role in the interaction of the viral envelope with cellular coreceptors and/or with other cell surface molecules. To clarify this interaction we used a panel of monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) against V3 loop and synthetic looped V3 peptides V3-BH10, V3-ADA, and V3-89.6, derived from the V3 regions of the BH10 clone of IIIB (X4-tropic), ADA (R5-tropic), and 89.6 (R5X4-tropic), respectively. A linear mutant peptide, V3-BH10/CA, was also synthesized as a control. Biotinylated V3-BH10, -BH10/CA, and-ADA were also made. The binding abilities of the biotinylated and nonbiotinylated peptides to various types of cells were investigated by using flow cytometry. Subsequently, the principal region of the V3 loop involved in cell surface binding was analyzed by using MAbs against the tip (447-52D and 694-98D), N-termini (IIIB-V3-21) or C-termini (IIIB-V3-01) of the V3 loop in flow cytometry and enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay. We demonstrate that looped V3 peptides of both X4 and R5X4 HIV (V3-BH10 and V3-89.6) can bind to various types of cells irrespective of their CD4 and/or coreceptor expression in a conformation-dependent manner. In contrast, the V3 loop of R5 HIV (V3-ADA) can scarcely bind to the cells. Using MAbs whose epitopes cover the entire V3 loop we found that MAb IIIB-V3-21 can react with platebound but not cell-bound peptides, and the MAb blocked biotin-V3-BH10 binding suggesting that the N-terminal of the V3 loop interacts directly with cell surface molecule(s).