A method for treating an HIV disease in a subject in need of said treatment, comprising administering to the subject a therapeutically effective amount of a DNA vaccine comprising an expression vector and a pharmaceutically acceptable excipient, where the expression vector comprises: (a) a heterologous promoter operatively linked to a DNA sequence encoding a nuclear-anchoring protein, where the nuclear-anchoring protein comprises: (i) a DNA binding domain which binds to a specific DNA binding sequence, and (ii) a functional domain of the Bovine Papilloma Virus Type 1 E2 protein, where the functional domain binds to a nuclear component; (b) a multimerized DNA sequence that forms a binding site for the nuclear anchoring protein; and (c) at least one expression cassette comprising a DNA sequence encoding a protein or peptide that stimulates an immune response specific to the protein or peptide; where the expression vector lacks an origin of replication functional in mammalian cells.