An integrated molecular dynamics (MD) and experimental study of higher order human telomeric quadruplexes.

ABSTRACT: Structural knowledge of telomeric DNA is critical for understanding telomere biology and for the utilization of telomeric DNA as a therapeutic target. Very little is known about the structure of long human DNA sequences that may form more than one quadruplex unit. Here, we report a combination of molecular dynamics simulations and experimental biophysical studies to explore the structural and dynamic properties of the human telomeric sequence (TTAGGG)(8)TT that folds into two contiguous quadruplexes. Five higher order quadruplex models were built combining known single human telomeric quadruplex structures as unique building blocks. The biophysical properties of this sequence in K(+) solution were experimentally investigated by means of analytical ultracentrifugation and UV spectroscopy. A

SUBMITTER: Petraccone L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3131549 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature