Multiscale affinity maturation simulations to elicit broadly neutralizing antibodies against HIV

PLoS Comput Biol. 2022 Apr 20;18(4):e1009391. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009391. eCollection 2022 Apr.

Abstract

The design of vaccines against highly mutable pathogens, such as HIV and influenza, requires a detailed understanding of how the adaptive immune system responds to encountering multiple variant antigens (Ags). Here, we describe a multiscale model of B cell receptor (BCR) affinity maturation that employs actual BCR nucleotide sequences and treats BCR/Ag interactions in atomistic detail. We apply the model to simulate the maturation of a broadly neutralizing Ab (bnAb) against HIV. Starting from a germline precursor sequence of the VRC01 anti-HIV Ab, we simulate BCR evolution in response to different vaccination protocols and different Ags, which were previously designed by us. The simulation results provide qualitative guidelines for future vaccine design and reveal unique insights into bnAb evolution against the CD4 binding site of HIV. Our model makes possible direct comparisons of simulated BCR populations with results of deep sequencing data, which will be explored in future applications.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • AIDS Vaccines*
  • Antibodies, Neutralizing
  • Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies
  • HIV Antibodies
  • HIV Infections*
  • HIV-1*
  • Humans

Substances

  • AIDS Vaccines
  • Antibodies, Neutralizing
  • Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies
  • HIV Antibodies

Grants and funding

Financial support was provided by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Grant 17-ERD-043 (LLC Award B620960; K.G.S and A.K.C), by the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard University (K.G.S and A.K.C), and by the CHARMM Development Project (M.K., S.C., and V.O.). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.