Jacob Korzun

TL;DR: The design and properties of soluble, cleaved SOSIP trimers based on the subtype A transmitted/founder strain, BG505, are described, which are highly stable and homogenous and closely resemble native virus spikes when visualized by negative stain electron microscopy (EM).

TL;DR: The production and in vitro properties of a new SOSIP, derived from a subtype B env gene, B41, are reported, including how to make this protein in low-serum media without proteolytic damage (clipping) to the V3 region.

TL;DR: It is shown that eliminating the cleavage site between the glycoprotein (gp)120 and gp41 subunits creates trimers that adopt irregular, nonnative configurations, which have adverse implications for using soluble, uncleaved trimers for structural studies, and the rationale for testing uncleaved trimmeders as vaccine candidates needs to be reevaluated.

TL;DR: Methods to improve the properties of soluble, cleaved gp140 trimers of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) envelope glycoproteins (Env) for use in structural studies and as immunogens are described.

TL;DR: Electron microscopy studies confirm that the purified trimers have the same native-like appearance as those derived by transient transfection and used to generate high-resolution structures, including the presentation of the quaternary epitope for the broadly neutralizing antibody PGT145.