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Definitions

• the invention relates to immunology and immunotherapy applications using oligonucleotides as immunostimulatory agents.
• Oligonucleotides have become indispensable tools in modern molecular biology, being used in a wide variety of techniques, ranging from diagnostic probing methods to PCR to antisense inhibition of gene expression and immunotherapy applications. This widespread use of oligonucleotides has led to an increasing demand for rapid, inexpensive and efficient methods for synthesizing oligonucleotides.
• oligonucleotides for antisense and diagnostic applications can now be routinely accomplished. See, e.g., Methods in Molecular Biology, Vol. 20: Protocols for Oligonucleotides and Analogs pp. 165-189 (S. Agrawal, ed., Humana Press, 1993); Oligonucleotides and Analogues, A Practical Approach, pp. 87-108 (F. Eckstein, ed., 1 91); and Uhlmann and Peyman, supra; Agrawal and Iyer, Curr. Op. in Biotech. 6:12 (1995); and Antisense Research and Applications (Crooke and Lebleu, eds., CRC Press, Boca Raton, 1993).
• phosphodiester oligonucleotides containing a palindrome that includes a CpG dinucleotide can induce interferon-alpha and gamma synthesis and enhance natural killer activity.
• Krieg et al, Nature 371:546-549 (1995) discloses that phosphorothioate CpG-containing oligonucleotides are immunostimulatory.
• Liang et al, J. Clin. Invest. 98:1119-1129 (1996) discloses that such oligonucleotides activate human B cells.
• the invention provides methods for enhancing the immune response caused by oligonucleotide compounds.
• the methods according to the invention enable increasing the immunostimulatory effect of immunostimulatory oligonucleotides for immunotherapy applications.
• the present inventors have surprisingly discovered that modification of an immunostimulatory oligonucleotide to optimally present its 5' end dramatically enhances its immunostimulatory capability.
• Such an oligonucleotide is referred to herein as an "immunomer.”
• the invention provides immunomers comprising at least two oligonucleotides linked at their 3' ends, an internuceotide linkage, or a functionalized nucleobase or sugar via a non-nucleotidic linker, at least one of the oligonucleotides being an immunostimulatory oligonucleotide and having an accessible 5' end.
• the immunomer comprises an immunostimulatory dinucleotide of formula 5'-Pyr-Pur-3', wherein Pyr is a natural or non-natural pyrimidine nucleoside and Pur is a natural or non-natural purine nucleoside.
• the immunomer comprises an immunostimulatory dinucleotide selected from the group consisting of CpG, C*pG, CpG*, and C*pG*, wherein C is cytidine or 2-deoxycytidine, C* is 2'-deoxythymidine.
• G is guanosine or 2'-deoxyguanosine
• G* is 2' deoxy- 7-deazaguanosine, 2'-deoxy-6-thioguanosine, arabinoguanosine, 2'-deoxy- 2'substituted-arabinoguanosine, 2'-O-substituted-arabinoguanosine, or other non- natural purine nucleoside
• p is an internucleoside linkage selected from the group consisting of phosphodiester, phosphorothioate, and phosphorodithioate.
• Y is cytidine, 2'-deoxythymidine, 2' deoxycytidine, arabinocytidine, 2'- deoxythymidine, 2'-deoxy-2'-substitutedarabinocytidine, 2'-O- substitutedarabinocytidine, 2'-deoxy-5-hydroxycytidine, 2'-deoxy-N4-alkyl-cytidine, 2'-deoxy-4-thiouridine or other non-natural pyrimidine nucleoside;
• Z is guanosine or 2'-deoxyguanosine
• G* is 2' deoxy-7-deazaguanosine, 2'- deoxy-6-thioguanosine, arabinoguanosine, 2'-deoxy-2'substituted-arabinoguanosine, 2'-O-substituted-arabinoguanosine, 2'- deoxyinosine, or other non-natural purine nucleoside
• N 1 is preferably a naturally occurring or a synthetic nucleoside or an immunostimulatory moiety selected from the group consisting of abasic nucleosides, arabinonucleosides, 2 -deoxyuridine, ⁇ -deoxyribonucleosides, ⁇ -L-deoxyribonucleosides, and nucleosides linked by a phosphodiester or modified internucleoside linkage to the adjacent nucleoside on the 3' side, the modified internucleotide linkage being selected from, without limitation, a linker having a length of from about 2 angstroms to about 200 angstroms, C2-C18 alkyl linker, poly(ethylene glycol) linker, 2-aminobutyl-l,3-propanediol linker, glyceryl linker, 2'- 5' internucleoside linkage, and phosphorothioate, phosphorodithioate, or methylphosphon
• Nn is a naturally occurring nucleoside or an immunostimulatory moiety, preferably selected from the group consisting of abasic nucleosides, arabinonucleosides, 2'-deoxyuridine, ⁇ -deoxyribonucleosides, 2'-O- substituted ribonucleosides, and nucleosides linked by a modified internucleoside linkage to the adjacent nucleoside on the 3' side, the modified intemucleotide linkage being selected from the group consisting of amino linker, 2'-5' internucleoside linkage, and methylphosphonate internucleoside linkage;
• Nl or Nn is an immunostimulatory moiety
• n is a number from 0-30;
• an intemucleotide linkage, or a functionalized nucleobase or sugar is linked directly or via a non-nucleotidic linker to another oligonucleotide, which may or may not be immunostimulatory.
• the invention provides immunomer conjugates, comprising an immunomer, as described above, and an antigen conjugated to the immunomer at a position other than the accessible 5' end.
• the invention provides pharmaceutical formulation comprising an immunomer or an immunomer conjugate according to the invention and a physiologically acceptable carrier.
• the invention provides methods for generating an immune response in a vertebrate, such methods comprising administering to the vertebrate an immunomer or immunomer conjugate according to the invention.
• the vertebrate is a mammal.
• the invention provides methods for therapeutically treating a patient having a disease or disorder, such methods comprising administering to the patient an immunomer or immunomer conjugate according to the invention.
• the disease or disorder to be treated is cancer, an autoimmune disorder, airway inflammation, asthma, allergy, or a disease caused by a pathogen.
• Figure 1 is a schematic representation of representative immunomers of the invention.
• FIG. 2 depicts several representative immunomers of the invention.
• Figure 3 depicts a group of representative small molecule linkers suitable for linear synthesis of immumomers of the invention.
• Figure 4 depicts a group of representative small molecule linkers suitable for parallel synthesis of immunomers of the invention.
• Figure 5 is a synthetic scheme for the linear synthesis of immunomers of the invention.
• DMTr 4,4 -dimethoxytrityl
• CE cyanoethyl.
• Figure 6 is a synthetic scheme for the parallel synthesis of immunomers of the invention.
• DMTr 4,4'-dimethoxytrityl
• CE cyanoethyl.
• Figure 7A is a graphic representation of the induction of IL-12 by immunomers 1-3 in BALB/c mouse spleen cell cultures.
• Figure 7B is a graphic representation of the induction of IL-6 (top to bottom, respectively) by Immunomers 1-3 in BALB/c mouse spleen cells cultures.
• Figure 7C is a graphic representation of the induction of IL-10 by Immunomers 1-3 (top to bottom, respectively) in BALB/c mouse spleen cell cultures.
• Figure 8A is a graphic representation of the induction of BALB/c mouse spleen cell proliferation in cell cultures by different concentrations of Immunomers 5 and 6, which have inaccessible and accessible 5 '-ends, respectively.
• Figure 8B is a graphic representation of BALB/c mouse spleen enlargement by Immunomers 4-6, which have an immunogenic chemical modification in the 5'- flanking sequence of the CpG motif. Again, the immunomer, which has accessible 5 '-ends (6), has a greater ability to increase spleen enlargement compared with Immunomer 5, which does not have accessible 5'-end and with monomeric Oligo 4.
• Figure 9A is a graphic representation of induction of IL-12 by different concentrations of Oligo 4 and Immunomers 7 and 8 in BALB/c mouse spleen cell cultures.
• Figure 9B is a graphic representation of induction of IL-6 by different concentrations of Oligo 4 and Immunomers 7 and 8 in BALB/c mouse spleen cell cultures.
• Figure 9C is a graphic representation of induction of IL- 10 by different concentrations of Oligo 4 and Immunomers 7 and 8 in BALB/c mouse spleen cell cultures.
• Figure 10A is a graphic representation of the induction of cell proliferation by Immunomers 14, 15, and 16 in BALB/c mouse spleen cell cultures.
• Figure 1 OB is a graphic representation of the induction of cell proliferation by
• IL-12 by different concentrations of Immunomers 14 and 16 in BALB/c mouse spleen cell cultures.
• Figure IOC is a graphic representation of the induction of cell proliferation by IL-6 by different concentrations of Immunomers 14 and 16 in BALB/c mouse spleen cell cultures.
• Figure 1 1 A is a graphic representation of the induction of cell proliferation by Oligo 4 and 17 and Immunomers 19 and 20 in BALB/c mouse spleen cell cultures.
• Figure 1 IB is a graphic representation of the induction of cell proliferation IL- 12 by different concentrations of Oligo 4 and 17 and Immunomers 19 and 20 in BALB/c mouse spleen cell cultures.
• Figure 1 IC is a graphic representation of the induction of cell proliferation IL- 6 by different concentrations of Oligo 4 and 17 and Immunomers 19 and 20 in BALB/c mouse spleen cell cultures.
• Figure 12 is a graphic representation of BALB/c mouse spleen enlargement using oligonucleotides 4 and immunomers 14, 23, and 24.
• Figure 13 is a schematic representation of the 3-terminal nucleoside of an oligonucleotide, showing that a non-nucleotide linkage can be attached to the nucleoside at the nucleobase, the 3' position, or at the 2' position.
• Figure 14 shows the chemical substitutions used in Example 13.
• Figure 15 shows cytokine profiles obtained using the modified oligonucleotides of Example 13.
• Figure 16 shows relative cytokine induction for glycerol linkers compared with amino linkers.
• Figure 17 shows relative cytokine induction for various linkers and linker combinations.
• Figures 18 A-E shows relative nuclease resistance for various PS and PO immunomers and oligonucleotides.
• Figure 19 shows relative cytokine induction for PO immunomers compared with PS immunomers in BALB/c mouse spleen cell cultures.
• Figure 20 shows relative cytokine induction for PO immunomers compared with PS immunomers in C3H/Hej mouse spleen cell cultures.
• Figure 21 shows relative cytokine induction for PO immunomers compared with PS immunomers in C3H/Hej mouse spleen cell cultures at high concentrations of immunomers.
• the invention relates to the therapeutic use of oligonucleotides as immunostimulatory agents for immunotherapy applications.
• the issued patents, patent applications, and references that are cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference. In the event of inconsistencies between any teaching of any reference cited herein and the present specification, the latter shall prevail for purposes of the invention.
• the invention provides methods for enhancing the immune response caused by immunostimulatory compounds used for immunotherapy applications such as, but not limited to, treatment of cancer, autoimmune disorders, asthma, respiratory allergies, food allergies, and bacteria, parasitic, and viral infections in adult and pediatric human and veterinary applications.
• the invention further provides compounds having optimal levels of immunostimulatory effect for immunotherapy and methods for making and using such compounds.
• immunomers of the invention are useful as adjuvants in combination with DNA vaccines, antibodies, allergens, chemotherapeutic agents, and antisense oligonucleotides.
• an immunostimulatory oligonucleotide is referred to herein as an "immunomer.”
• the invention provides immunomers comprising at least two oligonucleotides linked at their 3' ends, or an internucleoside linkage or a functionalized nucleobase or sugar to a non-nucleotidic linker, at least one of the oligonucleotides being an immunostimulatory oligonucleotide and having an accessible 5 1 end.
• accessible 5' end means that the 5' end of the oligonucleotide is sufficiently available such that the factors that recognize and bind to immunomers and stimulate the immune system have access to it.
• the 5' OH position of the terminal sugar is not covalently linked to more than two nucleoside residues.
• the 5' OH can be linked to a phosphate, phosphorothioate, or phosphorodithioate moiety, an aromatic or aliphatic linker, cholesterol, or another entity which does not interfere with accessibility.
• the term "immunomer” refers to any compound comprising at least two oligonucleotides linked at their 3' ends or internucleoside linkages, or functionalized nucleobase or sugar directly or via a non-nucleotidic linker, at least one of the oligonucleotides (in the context of the immunomer) being an immunostimulatory oligonucleotide and having an accessible 5' end, wherein the compound induces an immune response when administered to a vertebrate.
• the vertebrate is a mammal, including a human.
• the immunomer comprises two or more immunostimulatory oligonucleotides, (in the context of the immunomer) which may be the same or different.
• each such immunostimulatory oligonucleotide has at least one accessible 5 1 end.
• the immunomer in addition to the immunostimulatory oligonucleotide(s), also comprises at least one oligonucleotide that is complementary to a gene.
• the term “complementary to” means that the oligonucleotide hybridizes under physiological conditions to a region of the gene.
• the oligonucleotide downregulates expression of a gene.
• Such downregulatory oligonucleotides preferably are selected from the group consisting of antisense oligonucleotides, ribozyme oligonucleotides, small inhibitory RNAs and decoy oligonucleotides.
• the term “downregulate a gene” means to inhibit the transcription of a gene or translation of a gene product.
• the immunomers according to these embodiments of the invention can be used to target one or more specific disease targets, while also stimulating the immune system.
• the immunomer includes a ribozyme or a decoy oligonucleotide.
• ribozyme refers to an oligonucleotide that possesses catalytic activity.
• the ribozyme binds to a specific nucleic acid target and cleaves the target.
• the term "decoy oligonucleotide” refers to an oligonucleotide that binds to a transcription factor in a sequence-specific manner and arrests transcription activity.
• the ribozyme or decoy oligonucleotide exhibits secondary structure, including, without limitation, stem-loop or hairpin structures.
• at least one set of Nn includes a string of 3 to 10 dGs and/or Gs or 2 '-substituted ribo or arabino Gs.
• oligonucleotide refers to a polynucleoside formed from a plurality of linked nucleoside units. Such oligonucleotides can be obtained from existing nucleic acid sources, including genomic or cDNA, but are preferably produced by synthetic methods.
• each nucleoside unit includes a heterocyclic base and a pentofuranosyl, trehalose, arabinose, 2'-deoxy-2'-substitutedarabinose, 2'-O-substitutedarabinose or hexose sugar group.
• the nucleoside residues can be coupled to each other by any of the numerous known internucleoside linkages.
• internucleoside linkages include, without limitation, phosphodiester, phosphorothioate, phosphorodithioate, alkylphosphonate, alkylphosphonothioate, phosphotriester, phosphoramidate, siloxane, carbonate, carboalkoxy, acetamidate, carbamate, morpholino, borano, thioether, bridged phosphoramidate, bridged methylene phosphonate, bridged phosphorothioate, and sulfone internucleoside linkages.
• oligonucleotide also encompasses polynucleosides having one or more stereospecific internucleoside linkage (e.g., (Rp)- or (S/>)-phosphorothioate, alkylphosphonate, or phosphotriester linkages).
• the terms "oligonucleotide” and “dinucleotide” are expressly intended to include polynucleosides and dinucleosides having any such internucleoside linkage, whether or not the linkage comprises a phosphate group.
• these internucleoside linkages may be phosphodiester, phosphorothioate, or phosphorodithioate linkages, or combinations thereof.
• the oligonucleotides each have from about 3 to about 35 nucleoside residues, preferably from about 4 to about 30 nucleoside residues, more preferably from about 4 to about 20 nucleoside residues. In some embodiments, the oligonucleotides have from about 5 to about 18, or from about 5 to about 14, nucleoside residues. As used herein, the term "about” implies that the exact number is not critical. Thus, the number of nucleoside residues in the oligonucleotides is not critical, and oligonucleotides having one or two fewer nucleoside residues, or from one to several additional nucleoside residues are contemplated as equivalents of each of the embodiments described above. In some embodiments, one or more of the oligonucleotides have 1 1 nucleotides.
• oligonucleotide also encompasses polynucleosides having additional substituents including, without limitation, protein groups, lipophilic groups, intercalating agents, diamines, folic acid, cholesterol and adamantane.
• oligonucleotide also encompasses any other nucleobase containing polymer, including, without limitation, peptide nucleic acids (PNA), peptide nucleic acids with phosphate groups (PHONA), locked nucleic acids (LNA), morpholino-backbone oligonucleotides , and oligonucleotides having backbone sections with alkyl linkers or amino linkers.
• PNA peptide nucleic acids
• PONA peptide nucleic acids with phosphate groups
• LNA locked nucleic acids
• morpholino-backbone oligonucleotides oligonucleotides having backbone sections with alkyl linkers or amino linkers.
• the oligonucleotides of the invention can include naturally occurring nucleosides, modified nucleosides, or mixtures thereof.
• modified nucleoside is a nucleoside that includes a modified heterocyclic base, a modified sugar moiety, or a combination thereof.
• the modified nucleoside is a non-natural pyrimidine or purine nucleoside, as herein described.
• the modified nucleoside is a 2'-substituted ribonucleoside an arabinonucleoside or a 2'-deoxy-2'-fluoroarabinoside.
• the term "2 '-substituted ribonucleoside” includes ribonucleosides in which the hydroxyl group at the 2' position of the pentose moiety is substituted to produce a 2'-O-substituted ribonucleoside.
• substitution is with a lower alkyl group containing 1 -6 saturated or unsaturated carbon atoms, or with an aryl group having 6-10 carbon atoms, wherein such alkyl, or aryl group may be unsubstituted or may be substituted, e.g., with halo, hydroxy, trifluoromethyl, cyano, nitro, acyl, acyloxy, alkoxy, carboxyl, carboalkoxy, or amino groups.
• 2'-O-substituted ribonucleosides include, without limitation 2'-O-methylribonucleosides and 2'-O-methoxyethylribonucleosides.
• 2'-substituted ribonucleoside also includes ribonucleosides in which the 2-hydroxyl group is replaced with a lower alkyl group containing 1-6 saturated or unsaturated carbon atoms, or with an amino or halo group.
• Examples of such 2'-substituted ribonucleosides include, without limitation, 2'-amino, 2'-fluoro, 2'-allyl, and 2'-propargyl ribonucleosides.
• oligonucleotide includes hybrid and chimeric oligonucleotides.
• chimeric oligonucleotide is an oligonucleotide having more than one type of internucleoside linkage.
• One preferred example of such a chimeric oligonucleotide is a chimeric oligonucleotide comprising a phosphorothioate, phosphodiester or phosphorodithioate region and non-ionic linkages such as alkylphosphonate or alkylphosphonothioate linkages (see e.g., Pederson et al. U.S. Patent Nos. 5,635,377 and 5,366,878).
• hybrid oligonucleotide is an oligonucleotide having more than one type of nucleoside.
• One preferred example of such a hybrid oligonucleotide comprises a ribonucleotide or 2'-substituted ribonucleotide region, and a deoxyribonucleotide region (see, e.g., Metelev and Agrawal, U.S. Patent No. 5,652,355, 6,346,614 and 6,143,881).
• the term “immunostimulatory oligonucleotide” refers to an oligonucleotide as described above that induces an immune response when administered to a vertebrate, such as a fish, fowl, or mammal.
• a vertebrate such as a fish, fowl, or mammal.
• mammal includes, without limitation rats, mice, cats, dogs, horses, cattle, cows, pigs, rabbits, non-human primates, and humans.
• immunostimulatory oligonucleotides can be found described in Agrawal et al, WO 98/49288, published November 5, 1998; WO 01/12804, published February 22, 2001 ; WO 01/55370, published August 2, 2001 ; PCT/US01/13682, filed April 30, 2001 ; and PCT/US01/30137, filed September 26, 2001.
• the immunostimulatory oligonucleotide comprises at least one phosphodiester, phosphorothioate, or phosphordithioate internucleoside linkage.
• the immunostimulatory oligonucleotide comprises an immunostimulatory dinucleotide of formula 5'-Pyr-Pur-3', wherein Pyr is a natural or synthetic pyrimidine nucleoside and Pur is a natural or synthetic purine nucleoside.
• pyrimidine nucleoside refers to a nucleoside wherein the base component of the nucleoside is a pyrimidine base.
• purine nucleoside refers to a nucleoside wherein the base component of the nucleoside is a purine base.
• a "synthetic" pyrimidine or purine nucleoside includes a non-naturally occurring pyrimidine or purine base, a non- naturally occurring sugar moiety, or a combination thereof.
• Preferred pyrimidine nucleosides according to the invention have the structure (I):
• D is a hydrogen bond donor
• D' is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, hydrogen bond donor, hydrogen bond acceptor, hydrophilic group, hydrophobic group, electron withdrawing group and electron donating group;
• A is a hydrogen bond acceptor or a hydrophilic group
• A' is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen bond acceptor, hydrophilic group, hydrophobic group, electron withdrawing group and electron donating group;
• X is carbon or nitrogen
• S' is a pentose or hexose sugar ring, or a non-naturally occurring sugar.
• the sugar ring is derivatized with a phosphate moiety, modified phosphate moiety, or other linker moiety suitable for linking the pyrimidine nucleoside to another nucleoside or nucleoside analog.
• Preferred hydrogen bond donors include, without limitation, -NH-, -NH 2 , -SH and -OH.
• the base moiety in (I) is a non-naturally occurring pyrimidine base.
• non-naturally occurring pyrimidine bases include, without limitation, 5-hydroxycytosine, 5-hydroxymethylcytosine, N4-alkylcytosine, preferably N4-ethylcytosine, and 4-thiouracil.
• 5-bromocytosine is specifically excluded.
• the sugar moiety S' in (I) is a non-naturally occurring sugar moiety.
• a "naturally occurring sugar moiety” is a sugar moiety that occurs naturally as part of nucleic acid, e.g., ribose and 2'-deoxyribose
• a "non-naturally occurring sugar moiety” is any sugar that does not occur naturally as part of a nucleic acid, but which can be used in the backbone for an oligonucleotide, e.g, hexose.
• Arabinose and arabinose derivatives are examples of a preferred sugar moieties.
• Preferred purine nucleoside analogs according to the invention have the structure (II):
• D is a hydrogen bond donor
• D' is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, hydrogen bond donor, and hydrophilic group
• A is a hydrogen bond acceptor or a hydrophilic group
• X is carbon or nitrogen
• L is an atom selected from the group consisting of C, O, N and S;
• S' is a pentose or hexose sugar ring, or a non-naturally occurring sugar.
• the sugar ring is derivatized with a phosphate moiety, modified phosphate moiety, or other linker moiety suitable for linking the pyrimidine nucleoside to another nucleoside or nucleoside analog.
• Preferred hydrogen bond donors include, without limitation, -NH-, -NH 2 , -SH and -OH.
• the base moiety in (II) is a non-naturally occurring purine base.
• examples of preferred non-naturally occurring purine bases include, without limitation, 6-thioguanine and 7-deazaguanine.
• the sugar moiety S' in (II) is a naturally occurring sugar moiety, as described above for structure (I).
• the immunostimulatory dinucleotide is selected from the group consisting of CpG, C*pG, CpG*, and C*pG*, wherein C is cytidine or 2'-deoxycytidine, C* is 2'-deoxythymidine, arabinocytidine, 2'-deoxythymidine, 2'- deoxy-2'-substitutedarabinocytidine, 2'-O-substitutedarabinocytidine, 2'-deoxy-5- hydroxycytidine, 2'-deoxy-N4-alkyl-cytidine, 2'-deoxy-4-thiouridine or other non- natural pyrimidine nucleoside, G is guanosine or 2'-deoxyguanosine, G* is 2' deoxy- 7-deazaguanosine, 2'-deoxy-6-thioguanosine, arabinoguanosine, 2'-deoxy-
• the immunostimulatory dinucleotide is not CpG.
• the immunostimulatory oligonucleotides may include immunostimulatory moieties on one or both sides of the immunostimulatory dinucleotide.
• the immunostimulatory oligonucleotide comprises in immunostimulatory domain of structure (III):
• Y is cytidine, 2'deoxythymidine, 2' deoxycytidine arabinocytidine, 2'-deoxy- 2'-substitutedarabinocytidine, 2'-deoxythymidine, 2'-O-substitutedarabinocytidine, 2'-deoxy-5-hydroxycytidine, 2'-deoxy-N4-alkyl-cytidine, 2'-deoxy-4-thiouridine or other non-natural pyrimidine nucleoside;
• Z is guanosine or 2'-deoxyguanosine
• G* is 2' deoxy-7-deazaguanosine, 2'- deoxy-6-th ioguanosine, arabinoguanosine, 2 ' -deoxy-2 ' substituted-arab i noguanosi ne, 2'-O-substituted-arabinoguanosine, 2'deoxyinosine, or other non-natural purine nucleoside;
• N 1 is preferably a naturally occurring or a synthetic nucleoside or an immunostimulatory moiety selected from the group consisting of abasic nucleosides, arabinonucleosides, 2'-deoxyuridine, ⁇ -deoxyribonucleosides, ⁇ -L-deoxyribonucleosides, and nucleosides linked by a phosphodiester or modified internucleoside linkage to the adjacent nucleoside on the 3' side, the modified intemucleotide linkage being selected from, without limitation, a linker having a length of from about 2 angstroms to about 200 angstroms, C2-C 18 alkyl linker, poly(ethylene glycol) linker, 2-aminobutyl-l,3-propanediol linker, glyceryl linker, 2'- 5' internucleoside linkage, and phosphorothioate, phosphorodithioate, or methylphosphorothioate,
• Nn is preferably a naturally occurring nucleoside or an immunostimulatory moiety selected from the group consisting of abasic nucleosides, arabinonucleosides, 2'-deoxyuridine, ⁇ -deoxyribonucleosides, 2'-O-substituted ribonucleosides, and nucleosides linked by a modified internucleoside linkage to the adjacent nucleoside on the 3' side, the modified intemucleotide linkage preferably being selected from the group consisting of amino linker, 2'-5' internucleoside linkage, and methylphosphonate internucleoside linkage;
• Nl or Nn is an immunostimulatory moiety
• n is a number from 0 to 30; and wherein the 3 'end, an internucleoside linker, or a derivatized nucleobase or sugar is linked directly or via a non-nucleotidic linker to another oligonucleotide, which may or may not be immunostimulatory.
• YZ is arabinocytidine or 2'-deoxy-2'- substituted arabinocytidine and arabinoguanosine or 2 'deoxy-2' -substituted arabinoguanosine.
• Preferred immunostimulatory moieties include modifications in the phosphate backbones, including, without limitation, methylphosphonates, methylphosphonothioates, phosphotriesters, phosphothiotriesters, phosphorothioates, phosphorodithioates, triester prodrugs, sulfones, sulfonamides, sulfamates, formacetal, N-methylhydroxylamine, carbonate, carbamate, morpholino, boranophosphonate, phosphoramidates, especially 'primary amino-phosphoramidates, N3. phosphoramidates and N5 phosphoramidates, and stereospecific linkages (e.g., (Rp)- or (Sp)-phosphorothioate, alkylphosphonate, or phosphotriester linkages).
• modifications in the phosphate backbones including, without limitation, methylphosphonates, methylphosphonothioates, phosphotriesters, phosphothiotriesters, phospho
• Preferred immunostimulatory moieties according to the invention further include nucleosides having sugar modifications, including, without limitation, 2 '-substituted pentose sugars including, without limitation, 2'-O-methylribose, 2'-O-methoxyethylribose, 2'-O-propargylribose, and 2'-deoxy-2'-fluororibose; 3 '-substituted pentose sugars, including, without limitation, 3'-O-methylribose; l',2'-dideoxyribose; arabinose; substituted arabinose sugars, including, without limitation, l'-methylarabinose, 3'-hydroxymethylarabinose, 4'-hydroxymethyl- arabinose, and 2' -substituted arabinose sugars; hexose sugars, including, without limitation, 1 ,5-anhydrohexitol; and alpha-anomers.
• the immunostimulatory moiety is attached to the adjacent nucleoside by way of a 2'-5' internucleoside linkage.
• Preferred immunostimulatory moieties according to the invention further include oligonucleotides having other carbohydrate backbone modifications and replacements, including peptide nucleic acids (PNA), peptide nucleic acids with phosphate groups (PHONA), locked nucleic acids (LNA), morpholino backbone oligonucleotides, and oligonucleotides having backbone linker sections having a length of from about 2 angstroms to about 200 angstroms, including without limitation, alkyl linkers or amino linkers.
• the alkyl linker may be branched or unbranched, substituted or unsubstituted, and chirally pure or a racemic mixture.
• alkyl linkers have from about 2 to about 18 carbon atoms. In some preferred embodiments such alkyl linkers have from about 3 to about 9 carbon atoms.
• Some alkyl linkers include one or more functional groups selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, amino, thiol, thioether, ether, amide, thioamide, ester, urea, and thioether.
• Some other functionalized alkyl linkers are peptides or amino acids.
• Preferred immunostimulatory moieties according to the invention further include DNA isoforms, including, without limitation, ⁇ -L-deoxyribonucleosides and ⁇ -deoxyribonucleosides.
• Preferred immunostimulatory moieties according to the invention incorporate 3' modifications, and further include nucleosides having unnatural internucleoside linkage positions, including, without limitation, 2'-5 ⁇ 2'-2', 3'-3' and 5'-5' linkages.
• Preferred immunostimulatory moieties according to the invention further include nucleosides having modified heterocyclic bases, including, without limitation, 5-hydroxycytosine, 5-hydroxymethylcytosine, N4-alkylcytosine, preferably N4-ethylcytosine, 4-thiouracil, 6-thioguanine, 7-deazaguanine, inosine, nitropyrrole, C5-propynylpyrimidine, and diaminopurines, including, without limitation, 2,6-diaminopurine.
• modified heterocyclic bases including, without limitation, 5-hydroxycytosine, 5-hydroxymethylcytosine, N4-alkylcytosine, preferably N4-ethylcytosine, 4-thiouracil, 6-thioguanine, 7-deazaguanine, inosine, nitropyrrole, C5-propynylpyrimidine, and diaminopurines, including, without limitation, 2,6-diaminopurine.
• a methylphosphonate internucleoside linkage at position Nl or Nn is an immunostimulatory moiety
• a linker having a length of from about 2 angstroms to about 200 angstroms C2-C 18 alkyl linker at position XI is an immunostimulatory moiety
• a ⁇ -L-deoxyribonucleoside at position XI is an immunostimulatory moiety. See Table 1 below for representative positions and structures of immunostimulatory moieties.
• reference to a linker as the immunostimulatory moiety at a specified position means that the nucleoside residue at that position is substituted at its 3'-hydroxyl with the indicated linker, thereby creating a modified internucleoside linkage between that nucleoside residue and the adjacent nucleoside on the 3' side.
• reference to a modified internucleoside linkage as the immunostimulatory moiety at a specified position means that the nucleoside residue at that position is linked to the adjacent nucleoside on the 3' side by way of the recited linkage.
• Table 2 shows representative positions and structures of immunostimulatory moieties within an immunostimulatory oligonucleotide having an upstream potentiation domain.
• Spacer 9 refers to a poly(ethylene glycol) linker of formula -O-(CH 2 CH 2 -O) ceremoni-, wherein n is 3.
• Spacer 18 refers to a polyethylene glycol) linker of formula -O-(CH 2 CH 2 -O) justify-, wherein n is 6.
• C2-C18 alkyl linker refers to a linker of formula -O-(CH 2 ) ? -O-, where q is an integer from 2 to 18.
• C3-linker and C3-alkyl linker refer to a linker of formula -O-(CH 2 ) 3 -O-.
• the linker is connected to the adjacent nucleosides by way of phosphodiester, phosphorothioate, or phosphorodithioate linkages.
• Table 3 shows representative positions and structures of immunostimulatory moieties within an immunostimulatory oligonucleotide having a downstream potentiation domain.
• the immunomers according to the invention comprise at least two oligonucleotides linked at their 3' ends or internucleoside linkage or a functionalized nucleobase or sugar via a non-nucleotidic linker.
• a "non-nucleotidic linker” is any moiety that can be linked to the oligonucleotides by way of covalent or non-covalent linkages.
• linker is from about 2 angstroms to about 200 angstroms in length.
• Non-covalent linkages include, but are not limited to, electrostatic interaction, hydrophobic interactions, ⁇ -stacking interactions, and hydrogen bonding.
• non-nucleotidic linker is not meant to refer to an internucleoside linkage, as described above, e.g., a phosphodiester, phosphorothioate, or phosphorodithioate functional group, that directly connects the 3'-hydroxyl groups of two nucleosides.
• a direct 3'-3' linkage is considered to be a "nucleotidic linkage.”
• the non-nucleotidic linker is a metal, including, without limitation, gold particles. In some other embodiments, the non-nucleotidic linker is a soluble or insoluble biodegradable polymer bead.
• the non-nucleotidic linker is an organic moiety having functional groups that permit attachment to the oligonucleotide. Such attachment preferably is by any stable covalent linkage.
• the linker may be attached to any suitable position on the nucleoside, as illustrated in Figure 13.
• the linker is attached to the 3'-hydroxyl.
• the linker preferably comprises a hydroxyl functional group, which preferably is attached to the 3'-hydroxyl by means of a phosphodiester, phosphorothioate, phosphorodithioate or non-phosphate-based linkages.
• the non-nucleotidic linker is a biomolecule, including, without limitation, polypeptides, antibodies, lipids, antigens, allergens, and oligosaccharides.
• the non-nucleotidic linker is a small molecule.
• a small molecule is an organic moiety having a molecular weight of less than 1,000 Da. In some embodiments, the small molecule has a molecular weight of less than 750 Da.
• the small molecule is an aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbon, either of which optionally can include, either in the linear chain connecting the oligonucleotides or appended to it, one or more functional groups selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, amino, thiol, thioether, ether, amide, thioamide, ester, urea, and thiourea.
• the small molecule can be cyclic or acyclic.
• Examples of small molecule linkers include, but are not limited to, amino acids, carbohydrates, cyclodextrins, adamantane, cholesterol, haptens and antibiotics. However, for purposes of describing the non-nucleotidic linker, the term "small molecule" is not intended to include a nucleoside.
• the small molecule linker is glycerol or a glycerol homolog of the formula HO-(CH 2 ) 0 -CH(OH)-(CH 2 ) p -OH, wherein o and;? independently are integers from 1 to about 6, from 1 to about 4, or from 1 to about 3. In some other embodiments, the small molecule linker is a derivative of 1 ,3-diamino- 2-hydroxypropane.
• Some such derivatives have the formula HO-(CH 2 ) m -C(O)NH-CH 2 -CH(OH)-CH 2 -NHC(O)-(CH 2 ) m -OH, wherein m is an integer from 0 to about 10, from 0 to about 6, from 2 to about 6, or from 2 to about 4.
• Some non-nucleotidic linkers according to the invention permit attachment of more than two oligonucleotides, as schematically depicted in Figure 1.
• the small molecule linker glycerol has three hydroxyl groups to which oligonucleotides may be covalently attached.
• Some immunomers according to the invention therefore, comprise more than two oligonucleotides linked at their 3* ends to a non-nucleotidic linker. Some such immunomers comprise at least two immunostimulatory oligonucleotides, each having an accessible 5' end.
• the immunomers of the invention may conveniently be synthesized using an automated synthesizer and phosphoramidite approach as schematically depicted in Figures 5 and 6, and further described in the Examples.
• the immunomers are synthesized by a linear synthesis approach (see Figure 5).
• linear synthesis refers to a synthesis that starts at one end of the immunomer and progresses linearly to the other end. Linear synthesis permits incorporation of either identical or un-identical (in terms of length, base composition and/or chemical modifications inco ⁇ orated) monomeric units into the immunomers.
• An alternative mode of synthesis is "parallel synthesis", in which synthesis proceeds outward from a central linker moiety (see Figure 6).
• a solid support attached linker can be used for parallel synthesis, as is described in U.S. Patent No. 5,912,332.
• a universal solid support such as phosphate attached controlled pore glass support can be used.
• Parallel synthesis of immunomers has several advantages over linear synthesis: (1) parallel synthesis permits the incorporation of identical monomeric units; (2) unlike in linear synthesis, both (or all) the monomeric units are synthesized at the same time, thereby the number of synthetic steps and the time required for the synthesis is the same as that of a monomeric unit; and (3) the reduction in synthetic steps improves purity and yield of the final immunomer product.
• the immunomers may conveniently be deprotected with concentrated ammonia solution or as recommended by the phosphoramidite supplier, if a modified nucleoside is inco ⁇ orated.
• the product immunomer is preferably purified by reversed phase HPLC, detritylated, desalted and dialyzed.
• Table 4 shows representative immunomers according to the invention. Additional immunomers are found described in the Examples.
• the invention provides immunomer conjugates, comprising an immunomer, as described above, and an antigen conjugated to the immunomer at a position other than the accessible 5' end.
• the non-nucleotidic linker comprises an antigen, which is conjugated to the oligonucleotide.
• the antigen is conjugated to the oligonucleotide at a position other than its 3' end.
• the antigen produces a vaccine effect.
• the antigen is preferably selected from the group consisting of antigens associated with a pathogen, antigens associated with a cancer, antigens associated with an auto-immune disorder, and antigens associated with other diseases such as, but not limited to, veterinary or pediatric diseases.
• the term "associated with” means that the antigen is present when the pathogen, cancer, auto-immune disorder, food allergy, respiratory allergy, asthma or other disease is present, but either is not present, or is present in reduced amounts, when the pathogen, cancer, auto-immune disorder, food allergy, respiratory allergy, or disease is absent.
• the immunomer is covalently linked to the antigen, or it is otherwise operatively associated with the antigen.
• the term "operatively associated with” refers to any association that maintains the activity of both immunomer and antigen. Nonlimiting examples of such operative associations include being part of the same liposome or other such delivery vehicle or reagent.
• such covalent linkage preferably is at any position on the immunomer other than an accessible 5' end of an immunostimulatory oligonucleotide.
• the antigen may be attached at an internucleoside linkage or may be attached to the non- nucleotidic linker. Alternatively, the antigen may itself be the non-nucleotidic linker.
• the invention provides pharmaceutical formulations comprising an immunomer or immunomer conjugate according to the invention and a physiologically acceptable carrier.
• physiologically acceptable refers to a material that does not interfere with the effectiveness of the immunomer and is compatible with a biological system such as a cell, cell culture, tissue, or organism.
• the biological system is a living organism, such as a vertebrate.
• carrier encompasses any excipient, diluent, filler, salt, buffer, stabilizer, solubilizer, lipid, or other material well known in the art for use in pharmaceutical formulations. It will be understood that the characteristics of the carrier, excipient, or diluent will depend on the route of administration for a particular application. The preparation of pharmaceutically acceptable formulations containing these materials is described in, e.g., Remington 's Pharmaceutical Sciences, 18th Edition, ed. A. Gennaro, Mack Publishing Co., Easton, PA, 1990.
• the invention provides methods for generating an immune response in a vertebrate, such methods comprising administering to the vertebrate an immunomer or immunomer conjugate according to the invention.
• the vertebrate is a mammal.
• the term "mammal" is expressly intended to include humans.
• the immunomer or immunomer conjugate is administered to a vertebrate in need of immunostimulation.
• administration of immunomers can be by any suitable route, including, without limitation, parenteral, oral, sublingual, transdermal, topical, intranasal, aerosol, intraocular, intratracheal, intrarectal, vaginal, by gene gun, dermal patch or in eye drop or mouthwash form.
• Administration of the therapeutic compositions of immunomers can be carried out using known procedures at dosages and for periods of time effective to reduce symptoms or surrogate markers of the disease.
• the therapeutic composition is preferably administered at a sufficient dosage to attain a blood level of immunomer from about 0.0001 micromolar to about 10 micromolar. For localized administration, much lower concentrations than this may be effective, and much higher concentrations may be tolerated.
• a total dosage of immunomer ranges from about 0.001 mg per patient per day to about 200 mg per kg body weight per day. It may be desirable to administer simultaneously, or sequentially a therapeutically effective amount of one or more of the therapeutic compositions of the invention to an individual as a single treatment episode.
• immunomers according to the invention are administered in combination with vaccines, antibodies, cytotoxic agents, allergens, antibiotics, antisense oligonucleotides, peptides, proteins, gene therapy vectors, DNA vaccines and/or adjuvants to enhance the specificity or magnitude of the immune response.
• the immunomers of the invention can variously act as adjuvants and/or produce direct immunostimulatory effects.
• Either the immunomer or the vaccine, or both, may optionally be linked to an immunogenic protein, such as keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH), cholera toxin B subunit, or any other immunogenic carrier protein.
• an immunogenic protein such as keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH), cholera toxin B subunit, or any other immunogenic carrier protein.
• KLH keyhole limpet hemocyanin
• MPL monophosphoryl lipid A
• alum and saponins, including QS-21, imiquimod, R848, or combinations thereof.
• the term "in combination with” means in the course of treating the same disease in the same patient, and includes administering the immunomer and/or the vaccine and/or the adjuvant in any order, including simultaneous administration, as well as temporally spaced order of up to several days apart.
• Such combination treatment may also include more than a single administration of the immunomer, and/or independently the vaccine, and/or independently the adjuvant.
• the administration of the immunomer and/or vaccine and/or adjuvant may be by the same or different routes.
• the methods according to this aspect of the invention are useful for model studies of the immune system.
• the methods are also useful for the prophylactic or therapeutic treatment of human or animal disease.
• the methods are useful for pediatric and veterinary vaccine applications.
• the invention provides methods for therapeutically treating a patient having a disease or disorder, such methods comprising administering to the patient an immunomer or immunomer conjugate according to the invention.
• the disease or disorder to be treated is cancer, an autoimmune disorder, airway inflammation, inflammatory disorders, allergy, asthma or a disease caused by a pathogen.
• Pathogens include bacteria, parasites, fungi, viruses, viroids and prions.
• Administration is carried out as described for the fourth aspect of the invention.
• allergy includes, without limitation, food allergies and respiratory allergies.
• airway inflammation includes, without limitation, asthma.
• autoimmune disorder refers to disorders in which "self proteins undergo attack by the immune system. Such term includes autoimmune asthma.
• the immunomer or immunomer conjugate can be administered in combination with any other agent useful for treating the disease or condition that does not diminish the immunostimulatory effect of the immunomer.
• the immunomer or immunomer conjugate may be administered in combination with a chemotherapeutic compound.
• Oligonucleotides were synthesized on a 1 ⁇ mol scale using an automated DNA synthesizer (Expedite 8909; PerSeptive Biosystems, Framingham, MA), following the linear synthesis or parallel synthesis procedures outlined in Figures 5 and 6.
• Deoxyribonucleoside phosphoramidites were obtained from Applied Biosystems (Foster City, CA). 1 ',2'-dideoxyribose phosphoramidite, propyl- 1 - phosphoramidite, 2-deoxyuridine phosphoramidite, l,3-bis-[5-(4,4'- dimethoxytrityl)pentylamidyl]-2-propanol phosphoramidite and methyl phosponamidite were obtained from Glen Research (Sterling, VA).
• ⁇ -L-2'- deoxyribonucleoside phosphoramidite, ⁇ -2'-deoxyribonucleoside phosphoramidite, mono-DMT-glycerol phosphoramidite and di-DMT-glycerol phosphoramidite were obtained from ChemGenes (Ashland, MA). (4-Aminobutyl)-l,3-propanediol phosphoramidite was obtained from Clontech (Palo Alto, CA). Arabinocytidine phosphoramidite, arabinoguanosine, arabinothymidine and arabinouridine were obtained from Reliable Pharmaceutical (St. Louis, MO).
• Arabinoguanosine phosphoramidite, arabinothymidine phosphoramidite and arabinouridine phosphoramidite were synthesized at Hybridon, Inc. (Cambridge, MA) (Noronha et al. (2000) Biochem., 39:7050-7062).
• nucleoside phosphoramidites were characterized by 31 P and ⁇ NMR spectra. Modified nucleosides were inco ⁇ orated at specific sites using normal coupling cycles. After synthesis, oligonucleotides were deprotected using concentrated ammonium hydroxide and purified by reverse phase HPLC, followed by dialysis. Purified oligonucleotides as sodium salt form were lyophilized prior to use. Purity was tested by CGE and MALDI-TOF MS.
• mice were administered to mice and the degree of splenomegaly was measured as an indicator of the level of immunostimulatory activity.
• a single dose of 5 mg/kg was administered to BALB/c mice (female, 4-6 weeks old, Harlan Sprague Dawley Inc, Baltic, CT) intraperitoneal ly.
• the mice were sacrificed 72 hours after oligonucleotide administration, and spleens were harvested and weighed.
• Figure 8B These results demonstrate that Immunomer 6, having two accessible 5' ends, has a far greater immunostimulatory effect than do Oligonucleotide 4 or Immunomer 5.
• IL-12 and IL-6 in vertebrate cells preferably BALB/c mouse spleen cells or human PBMC
• the required reagents including cytokine antibodies and cytokine standards were purchased form PharMingen, San Diego, CA.
• ELISA plates (Costar) were incubated with appropriate antibodies at 5 ⁇ g/mL in PBSN buffer (PBS/0.05% sodium azide, pH 9.6) overnight at 4°C and then blocked with PBS/1% BSA at 37 °C for 30 minutes.
• Ceil culture supernatants and cytokine standards were appropriately diluted with PBS/10% FBS, added to the plates in triplicate, and incubated at 25 °C for 2 hours.
• PBMCs Human peripheral blood mononuclear cells
• the resulting cell pellet was then resuspended in RPMI 1640 medium containing L-glutamine (MediaTech, Inc., Herndon, VA) and supplemented with 10% heat inactivated FCS and penicillin-streptomycin (lOOU/ml). Cells were cultured in 24 well plates for different time periods at 1 X 10 6 cells/ml/well in the presence or absence of oligonucleotides.
• the levels of IL-12 and IL-6 in the cell culture supernatants were calculated from the standard curve constructed under the same experimental conditions for IL-12 and IL-6, respectively.
• the levels of IL-10, IFN-gamma and TNF- ⁇ in the cell culture supernatants were calculated from the standard curve constructed under the same experimental conditions for IL-10, IFN-gamma and TNF- ⁇ , respectively.
• D1 and D2 are donors 1 and 2.
• Normal phase represents a phosphorothioate linkage
• Italic phase represents a phosphodiester linkage
• immunostimulatory oligonucleotides that contain natural phosphodiester backbones are less immunostimulatory than are the same length oligonucleotides with a phosphorothioate backbones.
• This lower degree of immunostimulatory activity could be due in part to the rapid degradation of phosphodiester oligonucleotides under experimental conditions.
• Degradation of oligonucleotides is primarily the result of 3'-exonucleases, which digest the oligonucleotides from the 3' end.
• the immunomers of this example do not contain a free 3' end.
• immunomers with phosphodiester backbones should have a longer half life under experimental conditions than the corresponding monomeric oligonucleotides, and should therefore exhibit improved immunostimulatory activity.
• the results presented in Table 13 demonstrate this effect, with Immunomers 84 and 85 exhibiting immunostimulatory activity as determined by cytokine induction in BALB/c mouse spleen cell cultures.
• Oligonucleotides were synthesized on 1 ⁇ mol scale using an automated DNA synthesizer (Expedite 8909 PerSeptive Biosystems). Deoxynucleoside phosphoramidites were obtained from Applied Biosystems (Foster City, CA). 7- Deaza-2'-deoxyguanosine phosphoramidite was obtained from Glen Research (Sterling Virginia). 1,3-Bis-DMT-glycerol-CPG was obtained from ChemGenes (Ashland, MA). Modified nucleosides were incorporated into the oligonucleotides at specific site using normal coupling cycles.
• oligonucleotides were deprotected using concentrated ammonium hydroxide and purified by reversed-phase HPLC, followed by dialysis. Purified oligonucleotides as sodium salt form were lyophilized prior to use. Purity of oligonucleotides was checked by CGE and MALDI- TOF MS (Bruker Proflex III MALDI-TOF Mass spectrometer).
• Oligonucleotides were incubated in PBS containing 10% bovine serum at 37 °
• spleen cells were cultured in RPMI complete medium.
• Murine macrophage-like cells J774 (American Type Culture Collection, Rockville, MD) were cultured in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium supplemented with 10% (v/v) FCS and antibiotics (100 IU/mL of penicillin G/streptomycin). All other culture reagents were purchased from Mediatech (Gaithersburg, MD).
• ELISAsfor IL-12 and IL-6 BALB/c mouse spleen or J774 cells were plated in 24-well dishes at a density of 5xl0 6 or IxlO 6 cells/mL, respectively.
• the CpG DNA dissolved in TE buffer (10 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.5, 1 mM EDTA) was added to a final concentration of 0.03, 0.1, 0.3, 1.0, 3.0, or 10.0 ⁇ g/mL to mouse spleen cell cultures and 1.0, 3.0, or 10.0 ⁇ g/mL to J774 cell cultures.
• the cells were then incubated at 37 °C for 24 hr and the supernatants were collected for ELISA assays.
• the experiments were performed two or three times for each CpG DNA in triplicate for each concentration.
• IL-12 and IL-6 The secretion of IL-12 and IL-6 was measured by sandwich ELISA.
• the required reagents, including cytokine antibodies and standards were purchased from PharMingen.
• ELISA plates (Costar) were incubated with appropriate antibodies at 5 ⁇ g/mL in PBSN buffer (PBS/0.05% sodium azide, pH 9.6) overnight at 4 °C and then blocked with PBS/1 % BSA at 37 °C for 30 min.
• Cell culture supernatants and cytokine standards were appropriately diluted with PBS/1% BSA, added to the plates in triplicate, and incubated at 25 °C for 2 hr.
• Table 15 Phosphorothioate CpG DNA sequences and modifications used in the study a
• conjugation of large molecules such as vaccines or mAbs at the 5'-end of a CpG DNA could lead to suboptimal immunostimulatory activity of CpG DNA.
• the conjugation of functional ligands at the 3 '-end of CpG DNA not only contributes to increased nuclease stability but also increased immunostimulatory potency of CpG DNA in vivo.
• oligonucleotides were synthesized for this study. Each of these modified oligonucleotides can be incorporated into an immunomer.
• the CpG DNAs which contained C2- (1), C3- (2), and C4-linkers (3), induced secretion of IL-12 production similar to that of the parent CpG DNA 4.
• the CpG DNA that contained C6 and C9-linkers (4 and 5) at the fifth nucleotide position from CpG dinucleotide in the 5 '-flanking sequence induced lower levels of IL-12 secretion than did the parent CpG DNA (Fig. 15), suggesting that substitution of linkers longer than a C4-linker results in the induction of lower levels of IL-12. All five CpG DNAs, which had linkers, induced two to three times higher IL-6 secretion than did the parent CpG DNA.
• CpG DNAs 137 and 138 in which a triethyleneglycol-linker (6) is incorporated at the fifth nucleotide position in the 5'- and at the fourth nucleotide position in the 3 '-flanking sequences to the CpG dinucleotide, respectively.
• CpG DNAs 139 and 140 contained a hexaethyleneglycol-linker (7) in the 5'- or the 3 '-flanking sequence to the CpG dinucleotide, respectively.
• CpG DNAs 137-140 All four modified CpG DNAs (137-140) were tested in BALB/c mouse spleen cell cultures for cytokine induction (IL-12, IL-6, and IL-10) in comparison with parent CpG DNA 4. All CpG DNAs induced concentration-dependent cytokine production over the concentration range tested (0.03-10.0 ⁇ g/mL) (data not shown). The levels of cytokines induced at 0.3 ⁇ g/mL concentration of CpG DNAs 137-140 are shown in Table 18.
• CpG DNAs 137 and 139 which had an ethyleneglycol-linker in the 5'-flanking sequence induced higher levels of IL-12 (2106 ⁇ 143 and 2066 ⁇ 153 pg/mL) and IL-6 (2362 ⁇ 166 and 2507 ⁇ 66 pg/mL) secretion than did parent CpG DNA 4 (Table 18).
• 137 and 139 induced slightly lower levels of IL-10 secretion than did the parent CpG DNA (Table 18).
• CpG DNA 138 which had a shorter ethyleneglycol-linker (6) in the 3'- flanking sequence induced IL-12 secretion similar to that of the parent CpG DNA, but significantly lower levels of IL-6 and IL-10 (Table 18).
• CpG DNA 140 which had a longer ethyleneglycol-linker (7) induced significantly lower levels of all three cytokines tested compared with the parent CpG DNA (Table 18).
• CpG DNA containing branched alkyl-linkers Two branched alkyl-linkers containing a hydroxyl (8) or an amine (9) functional group were incorporated in parent CpG DNA 4 and the effects on immunostimulatory activity of the resulting modified CpG DNAs (150-154-Table 19) were examined.
• the data obtained with CpG DNAs 150-154, containing amino-linker 9 at different nucleotide positions, in BALB/c mouse spleen cell cultures (proliferation) and in vivo (splenomegaly) are shown in Table 19.
• Table 19 Spleen cell proliferation induced by CpG DNA containing an aminobutyryl propanediol-linker in BALB/c mice spleen cell cultures and splenomegaly in BALB/c mice.
• Parent CpG DNA 4 showed a proliferation index of 3.7 ⁇ 0.8 at a concentration of 0.1 ⁇ g/mL.
• modified CpG DNAs 151-154 containing amino-linker 9 at different positions caused higher spleen cell proliferation than did the parent CpG DNA (Table 19).
• a lower proliferation index was noted compared with parent CpG DNA (Table 19), further confirming that the placement of a linker substitution adjacent to CpG dinucleotide has a detrimental effect on immunostimulatory activity.
• CpG DNAs 145 and 152 which had substitution in the 5'- flanking sequence and assayed their ability to induce cytokines IL-12 and IL-6 secretion in BALB/c mouse spleen cell cultures. Both CpG DNAs 145 and 152 induced concentration-dependent cytokine secretion.
• Figure 4 shows the levels of IL-12 and IL-6 induced by 145 and 152 in mouse spleen cell cultures at 0.3 ⁇ g/mL concentration compared with parent CpG DNA 4. Both CpG DNAs induced higher levels of IL-12 and IL-6 than did parent CpG DNA 4.
• Modified CpG DNAs were studied for their ability to induce cytokine production in BALB/c mouse spleen cell cultures in comparison with parent CpG DNA 4. All CpG DNAs induced concentration-dependent cytokine production. The data obtained at 1.0 ⁇ g/mL concentration of CpG DNAs is shown in Table 20. In this assay, parent CpG DNA 4 induced 967 ⁇ 28 pg/mL of IL-12, 1593 ⁇ 94 pg/mL of IL-6, and 14 ⁇ 6 pg/mL of IL-10 secretion at 1 ⁇ g/mL of concentration. The data presented in Table 20 suggest that as the number of linker substitutions decreased IL-12 induction decreased.
• CpG DNA 127 The substitution of the fourth and fifth nucleosides with C4-linker 3 (CpG DNA 127) had an insignificant effect on cytokine secretion compared with parent CpG DNA 4, suggesting that the nucleobase and sugar ring at these positions are not required for receptor recognition and/or binding.
• the substitution of two C ⁇ -linkers (4) resulted in IL-12 secretion lower than and IL-6 secretion similar to that induced by parent CpG DNA 4.
• the 5 '-truncated CpG DNA 132 induced higher cytokine secretion than did CpG DNA 131.
• the CpG DNAs 135 and 136 which had two C9-linkers (5), induced insignificant cytokine secretion, confirming the results obtained with mono-substituted CpG DNA containing the same linker as described above.
• PS-CpG DNA 4 (Table 21) was found to induce an immune response in mice (data not shown) with PO-CpG DNA 155 serving as a control.
• PO-immunomers 156 and 157 each contain two identical, truncated copies of the parent CpG DNA 155 joined through their 3 '-ends via a glyceryl linker, X (Table 21). While 156 and 157 each contain the same oligonucleotide segments of 14 bases, the 5'-ends of 157 were modified by the addition of two C3-linkers, Y (Table 21). All oligonucleotides 4, 155-157 contain a 'GACGTT hexameric motif known to activate the mouse immune system.
• Figure 18 A-D shows the nuclease digestion profiles of CpG DNAs 4, 155-157 incubated in 10% FBS for 24 hr. The amount of full-length CpG DNA remaining at each time point is shown in Figure 18 E.
• the parent PS-CpG DNA 4 is the most resistant to serum nucleases. About 55% of 18-mer 4 remained undegraded after 48 hr incubation.
• CpG DNAs The immunostimulatory activity of CpG DNAs was studied in BALB/c and C3H/HeJ mice spleen cell cultures by measuring levels of cytokines IL-12 and IL-6 secreted. All CpG DNAs induced a concentration-dependent cytokine secretion in BALB/c mouse spleen cell cultures (Fig. 19). At 3 ⁇ g/mL, PS-CpG DNA 4 induced 2656 ⁇ 256 and 12234 ⁇ 1180 pg/mL of IL-12 and IL-6 respectively. The parent PO-CpG DNA 155 did not raise cytokine levels above background except at a concentration of 10 ⁇ g/mL. This observation is consistent with the nuclease stability assay results. In contrast, PO-immunomers 156 and 157 induced both IL-12 and IL-6 secretion in BALB/c mouse spleen cell cultures.
• PS-CpG DNAs have been shown to induce potent antitumor activity in vivo. Since PO-CpG DNAs exhibited greater nuclease stability and induced higher levels of IL-12 and IFN- ⁇ secretion in in vitro assays, we were interested to see if these desirable properties of PO-immunomers improve the antitumor activity in vivo.
• PO-immunomer 157 subcutaneously at a dose of 0.5 mg/kg every other day to nude mice bearing tumor xenografts of MCF-7 breast cancer cells that express wild-type p53, or DU-145 prostate cancer cells that express mutated p53.
• PO- immunomer 157 gave 57% growth inhibition of MCF-7 tumors on day 15 compared with the saline control (Fig. 21 A). It also produced 52% growth inhibition of DU-145 tumors on day 34 (Fig. 2 IB). These antitumor studies suggest that PO-immunomers of the proposed design exhibit potent antitumor activity in vivo.
• Example 22 Short immunomers To test the effects of short immunomers on cytokine induction, the following immunomers were used. These results show that immunomers as short as 5 nucleotides per segment are effective in inducing cytokine production.
• Normal phase represents a phosphorothioate linkage.

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