A human recombinant Fab identifies a human immunodeficiency virus type 1-induced conformational change in cell surface-expressed CD4.

To explore the role of the CD4 molecule in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection following initial virus-CD4 binding, we have characterized CD4-specific antibodies raised by immunizing an HIV-1-infected human with human recombinant soluble CD4 (rsCD4). Fabs were selected from a human recombinant Fab library constructed from the bone marrow of this immunized individual. Here, we describe a human rsCD4-specific recombinant Fab clone selected by panning the library over complexes of human rsCD4 and recombinant HIV-1 envelope protein. While this Fab does not bind to CD4-positive T-cell lines or to human T lymphocytes, it recognizes cell surface-expressed CD4 following the incubation of these cells with a recombinant form of HIV-1 gp120 or with HIV-1 virions. The Fab is not HIV-1 envelope specific, since it does not bind to recombinant gp120 or to native cell surface-expressed HIV-1 envelope proteins. As confirmation of its CD4 specificity, we show that this Fab immunoprecipitates a 55-kDa protein, corresponding to the molecular mass of cellular CD4, from an H9 cell lysate. The specificity of this human Fab provides evidence for a virus-induced conformational change in cell surface-expressed on CD4. The characterization of this altered CD4 conformation and its effects on the host cell will be important in defining postbinding events in HIV infection.