This disclosure relates to HIV envelope proteins or envelope protein fragments, or trimeric complexes thereof which have uses in vaccination methods or therapeutic strategies. In certain embodiments, this disclosure relates to HIV envelope proteins or envelope protein fragments, or trimeric complexes thereof, comprising an arginine (R) at position 166, glutamine (Q) at position 170, and an amino acid histidine (H) at position 173. In certain embodiments, this disclosure relates to nucleic acids and recombinant vectors encoding said proteins.

Compositions and methods based on the use of mutated HIV-1 gp120 polypeptides having amino acid substitutions at positions 61, 105, 108, 375, 474, 475 and 476 are described. These mutated HIV-1 gp120 polypeptides, which make the HIV env protein more amenable to adopt specific conformations when contacted with gp120 ligands, may be useful as vaccines or tools to identify and characterize agents modulating HIV infection.

Disclosed are compositions comprising an expressible nucleic acid sequence comprising a first nucleic acid sequence comprising a leader sequence or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof; and a second nucleic acid sequence comprising a sequence that encodes a trimer of a retroviral envelope or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. In some embodiments, the expressible nucleic acid sequence further comprises a nucleic acid sequence encoding at least one viral antigen or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. In some embodiments, the expressible nucleic acid sequence further comprises at least one nucleic acid sequence encoding a linker. Also disclosed are pharmaceutical compositions comprising these compositions and methods of using the disclosed compositions.

This disclosure relates to methods of promoting immune responses against HIV and compositions related thereto. In certain embodiments, this disclosure relates to methods of vaccinating for HIV comprising administering to the subject a priming composition followed by a boosting composition. In certain embodiments, the priming composition comprises a recombinant virus such as recombinant MVA that encodes an Env protein of HIV or segment thereof. In certain embodiments, the boosting composition comprises a trimeric cyclically permuted gp120 chimeric protein reported herein or DNA encoding the same.

Immunogenic compositions containing a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) gp140 protein, sorbitol, polysorbate 20, and histidine buffer are described. The described immunogenic compositions are advantageous in that they are stable at refrigerated temperature for extended periods of time, and are compatible with an adjuvant. Also described are methods for storing the immunogenic compositions.

The invention is directed to immunogens and methods for inducing immune responses, comprising methods for germline B cell stimulation and maturation by reverse engineering of HIV-1 envelopes.

Provided here are certain recombinant HIV compositions and animal models to evaluate prophylactic and therapeutic antiviral compositions.

Immunogenic compositions containing a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) gp140 protein, sorbitol, polysorbate 20, and histidine buffer are described. The described immunogenic compositions are advantageous in that they are stable at refrigerated temperature for extended periods of time, and are compatible with an adjuvant. Also described are methods of using the immunogenic compositions to induce an immune response against an HIV in a subject. The immunogenic compositions can be administered alone, or in combination with one or more additional HIV antigens, or one or more adenovirus vectors encoding the one or more additional HIV antigens.

The invention relates to HIV-1 envelope polypeptides comprising the consensus envelope of SEQ ID NO: 35, compositions comprising these envelopes and methods for using same.

The present invention provides novel scaffolded HIV-1 vaccine immunogens. Some of the scaffolded immunogens contain a soluble gp140 trimer linked to the N-terminus of the nanoparticle subunit and a T-helper epitope that is fused via a short peptide spacer to the C-terminus of the nanoparticle subunit. Some other immunogens of the invention contain a soluble gp140 trimer protein that is linked to a stable nanoparticle via a short peptide spacer that is a T-helper epitope. Some of the scaffolded immunogens contain a gp140 trimer immunogen presented on a nanoparticle platform formed with I3-01 protein, E2p, or variants of protein 1VLW. Also provided in the invention are nucleic acids that encode the various vaccine immunogens described herein, and expression vectors and host cells harboring the nucleic acids. The invention further provides methods of using the scaffolded HIV-1 vaccine immunogens for preventing or treating HIV infections.