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.
