Patent ID: 8652459

Claim:
A method for inducing an immune response in a patient, comprising at least: a) administering to the patient a first antigen comprising the broadly neutralizing epitopes of the Membrane Proximal External Region (MPER) of gp41, and b) administering to the same patient a second antigen comprising a modified polypeptide comprising three contiguous segments N, L and C represented by the formula N-L-C and comprising: a N-helix region of gp41 (N), a C-helix region of gp41 (C), and a connecting loop comprising a synthetic linker (L) between the N and C-helices, the linker replacing amino acids 593-617 of gp41 of the prototypic isolate HIV-1 HxB2 Clade B strain, wherein amino acids 522 to 681 of this numbering scheme correspond respectively to amino acids 1 to 142 set forth in SEQ ID NO:1, said polypeptide comprising the calveolin-1 neutralizing and 98.6 D epitopes, but not 2F5 and 4E10 epitopes, not the fusion peptide, the polypeptide having a minimal immunogenic cross-reactivity with human interleukin 2.