For example, in vivo administration of neutral oligonucleotides should prove useful for treating diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus, sepsis and autoimmune diseases, which are caused or exacerbated by the presence of unmethylated CpG dimers in a subject In addition, methylation CpG containing antisense oligonucleotides or oligonucleotide probes would not initiate an immune reaction when