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.