“…Some of the vaccine candidates evaluated so far include immunogens based on short MPER peptides, either alone or coupled to carrier proteins (Decroix et al, 2001; Joyce, 2002; Liao et al, 2000; Matoba et al, 2006; McGaughey et al, 2003; Ni et al, 2004); the use of artificial scaffolds containing stabilized MPER epitopes (Correia et al, 2010; Guenaga et al, 2011; Ofek et al, 2010); hybrid/fusion proteins (Coëffier et al, 2000; Hinz et al, 2009; Krebs et al, 2014; Law et al, 2007; Liang et al, 1999; Mantis et al, 2001; Strasz et al, 2014); chimeric viruses or virus-like particles displaying MPER epitopes (Arnold et al, 2009; Benen et al, 2014; Bomsel et al, 2011; Eckhart et al, 1996; Jain et al, 2010; Kamdem Toukam et al, 2012; Kim et al, 2007; Luo et al, 2006; Marusic et al, 2001; Muster et al, 1995; Ye et al, 2011; Yi et al, 2013; Zhang et al, 2004); and presentation of MPER peptides on liposomes (Dennison et al, 2011; Hanson et al, 2015; Hulsik et al, 2013; Lai et al, 2014; Matyas et al, 2009; Mohan et al, 2014; Serrano et al, 2014; Venditto et al, 2013; 2014). Despite these efforts, none of them succeeded in inducing bnAbs against the MPER, albeit a few recent studies reported induction of modest levels of cross-clade neutralizing activity (Hulsik et al, 2013; Krebs et al, 2014; Lai et al, 2014; Ye et al, 2011; Yi et al, 2013). These results highlight the difficulty in eliciting anti-MPER bnAbs through vaccination.…”