Claims
- 1. A chimeric immunomodulatory compound (CIC) that stimulates production of IFN-α from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells, said CIC comprising at least three nucleic acid moieties, at least one of which comprises a sequence 5′-TCGY, where Y is selected from the group consisting of XCGX, XTCG, XXCG, and CGXX, where X is any nucleotide, and at least one normucleic acid spacer moiety.
- 2. The CIC of claim 1 comprising at least one multivalent normucleic acid spacer moiety.
- 3. The CIC of claim 1 wherein at least one normucleic acid spacer moiety comprises HEG, TEG, propyl, butyl, hexyl, pentaerythritol, 2-(hydroxymethyl)ethyl, glycerol, a polysaccharide, 1,3-diamino-2-propanol- or a dendrimer.
- 4. A CIC that-stimulates production of IFN-α from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells but does not stimulate human B cell proliferation.
- 5. The CIC of claim 4 comprising a nucleic acid moiety comprising the sequence 5′-TCGAXN, where X is any nucleotide and n is 1, 2, or 3.
- 6. The CIC of claim 5 wherein the nucleic acid moiety comprising the sequence 5′-TCGAXN, where X is any nucleotide and n is an integer from 4 to 9.
- 7. The CIC of claim 5 comprising a nucleic acid moiety comprising the sequence 5′-TCGACGXN, where X is any nucleotide and n is 1, 2, 3, or an integer from 4 to 7.
- 8. The CIC of claim 7 wherein N is 1.
- 9. The CIC of claim 8 wherein X is T.
- 10. The CIC of claim 9 having the structure (5′-TCGACGT-HEG)2-glycerol-HEG-5′-TCGACGT or (5′-TCGACGT-HEG)3-trebler-HEG-5′-TCGACGT.
- 11. A composition comprising a CIC of claim 4 and a pharmaceutically acceptable excipient.
- 12. A composition comprising a CIC of claim 11 and further comprising an antigen.
- 13. A composition comprising a CIC of claim 11 and further comprising a cationic microsphere.
- 14. A method of modulating an immune response in an individual comprising administering to an individual a CIC of claim 1 in an amount sufficient to modulate an immune response in said individual.
- 15. A method of modulating an immune response in an individual comprising administering to an individual a CIC of claim 4 in an amount sufficient to modulate an immune response in said individual.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part application of patent application Ser. No. 10/328,578 which is a continuation-in-part of patent applications No. 10/176,883 and No. 10/177,826, both filed Jun. 21, 2002, both of which claim benefit of provisional patent application No. 60/299,883, filed Jun. 21, 2001 and provisional patent application No. 60/375,253, filed Apr. 23, 2002. The entire contents of each of the aforementioned applications is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
Provisional Applications (4)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60299883 |
Jun 2001 |
US |
|
60375253 |
Apr 2002 |
US |
|
60375253 |
Apr 2002 |
US |
|
60299883 |
Jun 2001 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (3)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10328578 |
Dec 2002 |
US |
Child |
10623371 |
Jul 2003 |
US |
Parent |
10176883 |
Jun 2002 |
US |
Child |
10328578 |
Dec 2002 |
US |
Parent |
10177826 |
Jun 2002 |
US |
Child |
10328578 |
Dec 2002 |
US |