Patent ID: 8663657

Claim:
A recombinant nucleic acid construct comprising: (i) a chimeric promoter sequence which consists of: (a) a human cytomegalovirus immediate early (hCMV IE) promoter sequence; (b) the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2; and (c) a heterologous intron, which is positioned 3′ to the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:2; (ii) a coding sequence in operable linkage with the chimeric promoter; (iii) a non-translated leader sequence which is selected from the group consisting of: a hepatitis B virus preS2 (HBVpreS2) antigen sequence, a HBV e-antigen sequence, and a Herpes Simples virus type 2 glycoprotein D (HSV type 2gD) antigen sequence, and which is in operable linkage with the chimeric promoter; and (iv) an enhancer sequence which is derived from a 3′ untranslated region (UTR) of a hepatitis b surface antigen (HBsAg) sequence or of a simian cytomegalovirus (CMV) immediate early gene sequence, which is in operable linkage with the chimeric promoter and which is downstream of the coding sequence.