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.