Immunostimulatory nucleic acid molecules

摘要

An isolated immunostimulatory oligonucleotide comprising two or more unmethylated CpG dinucleotides, and having a sequence including the following formula:

        5'N₁X₁X₂CGTTN₂³'

wherein the immunostimulatory oligonucleotide includes a modified backbone, at least one nucleotide separates consecutive CpGs, X₁X₂ is GpT or ApT, N₁ is any nucleotide that includes a 5' TC or TG, N₁ + N₂ is from 0-26 bases, and the immunostimulatory oligonucleotide is from 8-30 bases in length and begins with TC or TG at the 5' end, with the proviso that neither N₁ nor N₂ contains a CCGG quadmer or more than one CCG or CGG trimer.