Large-Scale Conformational Analysis Explains G-Quadruplex Topological Landscape.

ABSTRACT: G-quadruplexes (G4) are four-stranded nucleic acid structures formed within sequences containing repeated guanine tracts separated by intervening loop regions. Abundant in the human genome, they play crucial roles in transcription regulation and genome maintenance. Although theoretically capable to adopt 26 different folding topologies─primarily differing in loop arrangements─only 14 of these have been observed experimentally. This raises fundamental questions about whether the remaining topologies are energetically inaccessible and what molecular factors determine the folding patterns of G-quadruplexes. To address these questions, we systematically explored the conformational space of G-quadruplexes using a set of 128 DNA sequences capable of forming two- and three-tetrad structures with

SUBMITTER: Jurkowski M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12478849 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature