Viruses,by definition,are obligate intracellular pathogens and therefore,successful vaccination must induce cellmediated immunity for effective control and/or prevention of disease.Since HIV-1 is predominantly mucosally transmitted,protective mucosal immunity is vital.Furthermore,because of the extensive variability of HIV-1 strains around the world,the vaccine-mediated immunity should be cross-reactive.We developed a cocktail of highly conserved HIV-1 envelope peptides,with 80-100% primary amino acid sequence homology across different HIV-1 clades,effective in priming strong mucosal and systemic cell-mediated immunity in multiple animal models.