First generation adenoviral vectors and associated recombinant adenovirus-based HIV vaccines which show enhanced stability and growth properties and greater cellular-mediated
immunity are described within this specification. These adenoviral vectors are utilized to generate and produce through
cell culture various adenoviral-based HIV-1 vaccines which contain HIV-1 gag, HIV-1 pol and / or HIV-1 nef
polynucleotide pharmaceutical products, and biologically relevant modifications thereof. These adenovirus vaccines, when directly introduced into living
vertebrate tissue, preferably a mammalian host such as a human or a non-human
mammal of commercial or domestic veterinary importance, express the HIV1-Gag, Pol and / or Nef
protein or biologically modification thereof, inducing a cellular immune response which specifically recognizes HIV-1. The exemplified polynucleotides of the present invention are
synthetic DNA molecules encoding HIV-1 Gag, encoding
codon optimized HIV-1 Pol, derivatives of optimized HIV-1 Pol (including constructs wherein
protease,
reverse transcriptase,
RNAse H and
integrase activity of HIV-1 Pol is inactivated), HIV-1 Nef and derivatives of optimized HIV-1 Nef, including nef mutants which effect
wild type characteristics of Nef, such as myristylation and down regulation of host CD4. The adenoviral vaccines of the present invention, when administered alone or in a combined modality regime, will offer a prophylactic
advantage to previously uninfected individuals and / or provide a
therapeutic effect by reducing
viral load levels within an infected individual, thus prolonging the
asymptomatic phase of HIV-1 infection.