US Patent 7381807 Immunostimulatory oligonucleotides and uses thereof

Oligonucleotides containing the non-palindromic sequence motif:X1X2X3X4X5X6X7X8,wherein X1 is C,T,G or A (preferably T or C); wherein X2 is C,T,G or A; wherein X7 is C,T,G or A (preferably G); at least three, and preferably all, of X3, X4, X5, X6 and X8 are T; and with the proviso that, in the motif, a C does not precede a G (in other terms, the nucleic acid motif does not consist of a CpG oligonucleotide), that modulate the immune response of animals of the order Primate, including humans, are disclosed. This immune modulation is characterized by stimulation of proliferation, differentiation, cytokine production and antibody production on B-cells and cell differentiation on plasmacytoid dendritic cells.