A tetrahelical DNA fold adopted by tandem repeats of alternating GGG and GCG tracts.

ABSTRACT: DNA can form diverse higher-order structures, whose details are greatly dependent on nucleotide sequence. G-rich sequences containing four or more repeats of three guanines are expected to form G-quadruplexes. Here we show that DNA sequences with GGGAGCG repeats found in the regulatory region of the PLEKHG3 gene are capable of forming tetrahelical DNA structures that are distinct from G-quadruplexes. The d(GGGAGCGAGGGAGCG) sequence, VK1, forms a dimer. Two VK1 sequences connected by an adenine residue, VK2, fold into a monomer, which shares identical structural characteristics with the VK1 fold. Their four-stranded architectures are stabilized by four G-C, four G-A and six G-G base pairs. No G-quartets or Hoogsteen-type hydrogen-bonded guanine residues are present and the overall topology

SUBMITTER: Kocman V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4275592 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature