A major problem in AIDS vaccine design is the inability to direct antibody responses to neutralizing epitopes. One potential way is to mask non-neutralizing epitopes with sugars. The core of the HIV gp120 surface glycoprotein is depicted with naturally occurring N-glycans (yellow) modelled according to the most likely glycoform. Residues that were mutated to incorporate additional N-glycans and to focus the antibody response to the CD4-binding site at the centre of gp120 are labelled red. Residues labelled green were mutated to alanine to reduce binding of non-neutralizing CD4-binding site antibodies. Grey-coloured circles represent the V1,V2 and V3 variable regions. For further details, see Pantophlet et al., 749-758.
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