Fig. 2. Alteration of D_H sequence biases anti-HIV-1 gp140 epitope preference.

Specific-IgG and IgM binding to HIV-1-gp140 and neutralization-associated epitopes were assessed in sera from WT (black) and the three strains of D-altered mice [ΔD-DFL (green), ΔD-DμFS (blue), and ΔD-iD (red)]. Individual mean endpoint titers obtained after 1–5 JR-FL gp140 i.p. immunizations are shown. The diamond symbols indicate the individual endpoint titers in the two mice/genotype selected for positive linear epitope identification by PEPperPRINT^® chip (see Fig. 4). The mean and standard error of the mean are shown for responder mice. Statistical significance was determined by a p value <0.01 (**), <0.05(*), respectively, ANOVA followed by Tukey HSD. Time points are as presented in Fig. 1.