RIG-I ligands and methods for producing them

1. A modified oligonucleotide of formula (I)

wherein V 1 , V 3 and V 5 are each independently selected from the group consisting of O, S and Se;

V2, V4 and V6 are each independently selected from the group consisting of OH, OR 1 , SH, SR 1 , F, NH 2 , NHR 1 , N(R 1 ) 2 and BH 3 -M + ,

W 1 is O or S,

W 2 is selected from the group consisting of O, S, NH and NR 2 ,

W 3 is selected from the group consisting of O, S, NH, NR 2 , CH 2 , CHHaI and C(HaI) 2 ,

R 1 , R 2 and R 3 are selected from the group consisting of H, C 1-6 alkyl, C 2-6 alkenyl, C 2-6 alkynyl, C 2-6 acyl and a cyclic group, each substituted or unsubstituted,

or wherein two R 1 may form a ring together with an N-atom bound thereto,

M + is a cation,

X is selected from the group consisting of NH, NR 3 , O and S,

Z represents a capture tag, wherein the capture tag is selected from the group consisting of a long-chain aliphatic residue; Q or NHC 2 -C 24 alkyl; a perfluoroalkyl entity; an azide or alkynyl group; a first partner of a non-covalent binding pair selected from the group consisting of biotin, desthiobiotin, a hapten, and an antigen; and a chemical entity containing a second amino group in an NH 2 —Y—XH type reagent; cholesterol; and a chloroformiate group, and wherein Q is selected from the group consisting of amino acids, C 1 -C 24 alkyl, preferably C 12 -C 24 alkyl, peptides and lipids,

Y represents a bond or a linker connecting the capture tag to X, and

ON represents an oligonucleotide comprising at least 4 nucleotide or nucleotide analogue building blocks.

2. The modified oligonucleotide of claim 1 , wherein V1, V2, V3, V4, V5, V6, W1, W2 and W3 are O.

3. The modified oligonucleotide of claim 1 , wherein Y is either a bond or a linker which is selected from the group consisting of alkylenes, aralkylenes, and polyalkylene oxides.

4. The modified oligonucleotide of claim 1 , wherein Z is selected from the group consisting of a long-chain aliphatic residue, Q and NHC 2 —C 24 alkyl, and wherein Q is selected from the group consisting of amino acids, amino acid analogues, C 1 -C 24 alkyl, peptides and lipids.

5. The modified oligonucleotide of claim 1 , wherein the oligonucleotide is selected from the group consisting of single-stranded or double-stranded desoxyribonucleotides, ribonucleotides and oligonucleotide analogues, which are unmodified or chemically modified at the nucleoside and/or the ribose of the desoxyribonucleotide, ribonucleotide or oligonucleotide analogue.

6. The modified oligonucleotide of claim 1 , comprising chemical modifications which maintain, establish or enhance the selectivity and/or the chemical stability of the oligonucleotide.

7. The modified oligonucleotide of claim 1 , comprising chemical modifications independently selected from the group consisting of halogenation, 2′-O-alkylation, and at least one phosphorothioate modification between internukleotid linkages.

8. The modified oligonucleotide of claim 1 , wherein

X is NH or O,

Y is —K—((CHR 1 ) m —CH 2 —O) n —R, or

—(O—(CHR 3 ) m3 —CH 2 ) n1 —(O—(CHR 2 ) m2 —CH 2 ) n2 —(O—(CHR 1 ) m1 —CH 2 ) n3 —,

K is O or NH,

m, m 1 , m 2 and m 3 are independently 1 to 12,

n, n 1 , n 2 and n 3 are independently 0 to 20,

R 1 , R 2 and R 3 are independently selected from the group consisting of H, C 1-6 alkyl, C 2-6 alkenyl, C 2-6 alkynyl, C 2- C 6 -acyl and a cyclic group, each substituted or unsubstituted, and

R is selected from the group consisting of C 1-6 alkyl, C 2-6 alkenyl, C 2-6 alkynyl, C 2- C 6 -acyl and a cyclic group, each substituted or unsubstituted.

9. The modified oligonucleotide of claim 8 , wherein

a) R 1 and R 2 are H, and

n 1 =0, n 2 =1 and n 3 =1, or

b) R 1 , R 2 and R 3 are H, and

n 1 , n 2 and n 3 are each 1.

10. The modified oligonucleotide of claim 1 , wherein

X is NH or O,

Y is a bond, and

Z is a capture tag selected from the group consisting of C 1 -C 12 alkyl, Q and NHC 2 —C 24 alkyl, wherein Q is selected from the group consisting of amino acids, amino acid analogues, C 1 -C 24 alkyl, peptides and lipids; and

V 1 , V 2 , V 3 , V 4 , V 5 , V 6 , W 1 , W 2 and W 3 are O.

11. The modified oligonucleotide of claim 1 , wherein

X is O,

Y is a bond,

Z is H, and

V 1 , V 2 , V 3 , V 4 , V 5 , V 6 , W 1 , W 2 and W 3 are O.

12. A pharmaceutical composition comprising an oligonucleotide according to claim 1 in combination with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, diluent and/or adjuvant.

13. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 12 , wherein the pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, diluent and/or adjuvant is suitable for intradermal administration.

14. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 13 , wherein the pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, diluent and/or adjuvant is suitable for intradermal administration by tattooing, microneedling or microneedle patches.

15. A method of preparing an oligonucleotide according to claim 1 , comprising

(a) reacting a compound of formula (IIa)

wherein:

V 1 , V 3 and V 5 are each independently selected from the group consisting of O, S and Se;

V 4 and V 6 are each independently selected from the group consisting of OH, OR 1 , SH, SR 1 , F, NH 2 , NHR 1 , N(R 1 ) 2 and BH 3 -M + ,

W 1 is O or S,

W 2 is selected from the group consisting of O, S, NH and NR 2 ,

W 3 is selected from the group consisting of O, S, NH, NR 2 , CH 2 , CHHaI and C(HaI) 2 ,

R 1 and R 2 are selected from the group consisting of H, C 1-6 alkyl, C 2-6 alkenyl, C 2-6 alkynyl, C 2-6 acyl and a cyclic group, each substituted or unsubstituted,

or wherein two R 1 may form a ring together with an N-atom bound thereto,

M + is a cation, and

ON represents an oligonucleotide comprising at least 4 nucleotide or nucleotide analogue building blocks, wherein ON is protected by at least one protection group,

with an oxidizing agent to obtain a compound of formula (IIb)

 wherein V 1 , V 3 , V 5 , V 4 , V 6 , W 1 , W 2 , W 3 and ON are as defined in claim 1 , and V 2 is selected from the group consisting of O, S and Se; wherein ON is protected by at least one protection group,

(b) reacting a compound of formula (IIb) with a capture tag agent of formula (III),

Z—Y—XH  (III),

wherein

X is selected from the group consisting of NH, NR 3 , O and S,

Z represents a capture tag, and

Y represents a bond or a linker connecting the capture tag to X,

to obtain a reaction product comprising the oligonucleotide of formula (I),

(c) deprotecting the at least one ON protection group, and

(d) contacting the reaction product of step (b) with a capture reagent capable of interacting with the capture tag, wherein the contacting takes place under conditions which allow separation of the oligonucleotide (I) from other species contained in said reaction product;

wherein the capture tag is selected from the group consisting of a long-chain aliphatic residue; Q or NHC 2 —C 24 alkyl; a perfluoroalkyl entity; an azide or alkynyl group; a first partner of a non-covalent binding pair selected from biotin, desthiobiotin, a hapten, and an antigen, which has a binding constant of 10 −6 I/mol or less with the capture reagent, which is a second complementary binding partner of the high-affinity binding pair; and a chemical entity containing a second amino group in an NH2-Y—XH type reagent; cholesterol; and a chloroformiate group, and wherein Q is selected from the group consisting of amino acids, C 1 -C 24 alkyl, preferably C 12 -C 24 alkyl, peptides and lipids; and

wherein the capture reagent is a chromatographic material with affinity for hydrophobic or fluorinated groups; a second partner of a complementary binding partner of the high-affinity binding pair which is a streptavidin, an avidin, or an antibody; or an azide or alkynyl group.

16. The method according to claim 15 , further comprising

(e) removing the capture tag to obtain an oligonucleotide, wherein when X═O a compound of Formula (IVa) or (Ivb) is obtained

and when X═NH a compound of Formula (IVa)

is obtained.

17. The method according to claim 15 , wherein X is O.

18. The modified oligonucleotide of claim 3 , wherein said aralkylenes comprise heteroatoms or heteroatom-containing groups.

19. The modified oligonucleotide of claim 5 , wherein the oligonucleotide is double stranded and each strand of the double strand has a length of at least 19 nucleotides.

20. The modified oligonucleotide of claim 7 , wherein the chemical modifications are associated with the RIG-I selectivity of the oligonucleotide.

21. The modified oligonucleotide of claim 7 , wherein the halogenation is F halogenation and the 2′-O-alkylation is 2′-O-methylation.

22. The modified oligonucleotide of claim 10 , wherein Z is C 10 or Q, wherein Q is C 12 -C 24 alkyl.

23. A method for stimulating a patient's immune system, comprising administering a modified oligonucleotide of formula (I)

wherein V 1 , V 3 and V 5 are each independently selected from the group consisting of O, S and Se;

V 2 , V 4 and V 6 are each independently selected from the group consisting of OH, OR 1 , SH, SR 1 , F, NH 2 , NHR 1 , N(R 1 ) 2 and BH 3 -M + ,

W 1 is O or S,

W 2 is selected from the group consisting of O, S, NH and NR 2 ,

W 3 is selected from the group consisting of O, S, NH, NR 2 , CH 2 , CHHaI and C(HaI) 2 ,

R 1 , R 2 and R 3 are selected from the group consisting of H, C 1-6 alkyl, C 2-6 alkenyl, C 2-6 alkynyl, C 2-6 acyl and a cyclic group, each substituted or unsubstituted,

or wherein two R 1 may form a ring together with an N-atom bound thereto,

M + is a cation,

X is selected from the group consisting of NH, NR 3 , O and S,

Z represents a capture tag, wherein the capture tag is selected from the group consisting of a long-chain aliphatic residue; Q or NHC 2 —C 24 alkyl; a perfluoroalkyl entity; an azide or alkynyl group; a first partner of a non-covalent binding pair selected from biotin, desthiobiotin, a hapten, and an antigen; and a chemical entity containing a second amino group in an NH 2 —Y—XH type reagent; cholesterol; and a chloroformiate group, and wherein Q is selected from amino acids, C 1 -C 24 alkyl, peptides and lipids,

Y represents a bond or a linker connecting the capture tag to X, and

ON represents an oligonucleotide comprising at least 4 nucleotide or nucleotide analogue building blocks;

to a patient in need of such stimulation.

24. The method according to claim 23 , wherein said modified oligonucleotide selectively stimulates the RIG-1 signaling pathway.

25. The method according to claim 23 , wherein said modified oligonucleotide is administered intraperitoneally, intramuscularly, intravenously, intranasally, subcutaneously, intradermally or intrathecally.

26. The method according to claim 25 , wherein said modified oligonucleotide is administered intradermally by tattooing or by microneedling.

27. The method according to claim 23 , wherein said C 1 -C 24 alkyl is a C 12 -C 24 alkyl.