| abstract |
An isolated immunostimulatory oligonucleotide comprising two or more unmethylated CpG dinucleotides, and having a sequence including the following formula: n5'N 1 X 1 X 2 CGTTN 2 3' nwherein the immunostimulatory oligonucleotide includes a modified backbone, at least one nucleotide separates consecutive CpGs, X 1 X 2 is GpT or ApT, N 1 is any nucleotide that includes a 5' TC or TG, N 1 + N 2 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 N 1 nor N 2 contains a CCGG quadmer or more than one CCG or CGG trimer. |