Patent ID: 8008473

Claim:
A chemically modified short interfering nucleic acid (siNA) molecule, wherein: a) the siNA comprises a sense strand and an antisense strand; b) each strand is independently 18 to 24 nucleotides in length, and together comprise a duplex having between 17 and 23 base pairs; c) the antisense strand is complementary to a human tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor RNA sequence; d) a plurality of pyrimidine nucleotides present in the sense strand are 2′-deoxy-2′-fluoro pyrimidine nucleotides and a plurality of purine nucleotides present in the sense strand are 2′-deoxy purine nucleotides; and e) a plurality of pyrimidine nucleotides in the antisense strand are 2′-deoxy-2′-fluoro pyrimidine nucleotides and a plurality of purine nucleotides present in the antisense strand are 2′-O-methyl purine nucleotides.