Patent ID: 7592014

Claim:
A method for generating an immune response in a subject comprising administering to the subject as part of a regimen (i) more than one priming composition which comprises a nucleic acid encoding a monomeric polypeptide unit comprising a modified HIV-1 gp120 and a modified HIV-1 gp41 ectodomain, and (ii) one or more immunogenic composition comprising a protein booster, wherein each composition which comprises the nucleic acid is administered to the subject at a first predefined interval and each immunogenic composition comprising the protein booster is administered to the subject at a second predefined interval, and wherein the protein booster comprises a protein complex, wherein said protein complex is a trimer of three such monomeric polypeptide units, wherein in each monomer polypeptide unit the modified gp120 comprises an A492C mutation and the modified gp41 ectodomain comprises a T596C mutation, said mutations being numbered by reference to the HIV-1 isolate JR-FL, and wherein the modified gp120 and the modified gp41 ectodomain are bound to each other by at least one disulfide bond between a cysteine residue substituted for a residue normally present in the amino acid sequence of the gp120 and a cysteine residue substituted for a residue normally present in the amino acid sequence of the gp41 ectodomain, which disulfide bond stabilizes the otherwise noncovalent gp120-gp41 ectodomain interaction.