Short communication: Antibody responses to human immunodeficiency virus envelope from infections with multiple subtypes utilize the 1f7-idiotypic repertoire

A common idiotype of anti-HIV antibodies (Abs), designated as 1F7, was recently observed on anti-HIV broadly neutralizing Abs (BnAbs). The presence of the 1F7-idiotype on BnAbs suggests that continuous selection of 1F7-idiotypic Abs may allow these clones to achieve the somatic hypermutation necessary for broad neutralization. As the selection of type-specific BnAbs occurs in the setting of infections with a wide array of HIV subtypes, we investigated Abs from subjects infected with diverse subtypes for the selection of 1F7-idiotypic Abs. We observed the 1F7-idiotype on antiviral Abs in infections with various HIV subtypes. Furthermore, gp140-specific 1F7-idiotypic Abs recognized the gp140 antigens from several HIV subtypes. These results demonstrate that the 1F7-idiotype is a common characteristic of Abs from infections with diverse HIV subtypes, and suggests that early cross-reactivity of 1F7-idiotypic clones may act in conjunction with somatic hypermutation to produce BnAbs. © 2013, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.