Expression in yeast of a cDNA clone encoding a transmembrane glycoprotein gp41 fragment (a.a. 591-642) bearing the major immunodominant domain of human immunodeficiency virus.

A cDNA clone corresponding to the gp41 gene fragment nucl. 7573-7730 of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) was selected from a random HIV-1 genomic library expressed in yeast. This clone encodes a 52-residue long peptide (amino acid (a.a.)) 591-642) bearing the major immunodominant domain (a.a. 598-609) of the HIV-1 transmembrane glycoprotein gp41. Expression of the recombinant peptide pSE-env591-642 was driven by the alpha-mating factor leader sequence contained in a plasmid pSE-x allowing the synthesis and secretion of foreign gene product in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Time-course analysis of the secretion into culture medium revealed an optimal production of the glycoprotein fragment at 28-30 h with no observable cytotoxicity. The secreted peptide is highly glycosylated with NH2-terminal heterogeneity probably due to different post-translational modifications. The secreted peptide shows an extreme antigenicity since in ELISA assays, as few as 5 microliters/well of crude supernatant are sufficient to obtain a strong detection by monoclonal antibodies or by 100% of sera from HIV-infected individuals. The purified glycopeptide pSE-env591-642 binds to a monoclonal antibody directed against the immunodominant epitope (a.a. 603-609) with an affinity similar to that of the complete glycoprotein gp160 (Kd values within the 10(-10) M range) and with a 100-fold higher affinity than that of a linear peptide fragment SP-env584-609. These results indicate that overexpression in yeast can efficiently provide an abundant source of highly antigenic gp41 protein fragment pSE-env591-642 which retains the antigenic properties of the native gp160 protein. Such a recombinant peptide should therefore be considered as a good candidate for antigen in HIV detection tests.