Divalent cations and molecular crowding buffers stabilize G-triplex at physiologically relevant temperatures.

ABSTRACT: G-triplexes are non-canonical DNA structures formed by G-rich sequences with three G-tracts. Putative G-triplex-forming sequences are expected to be more prevalent than putative G-quadruplex-forming sequences. However, the research on G-triplexes is rare. In this work, the effects of molecular crowding and several physiologically important metal ions on the formation and stability of G-triplexes were examined using a combination of circular dichroism, thermodynamics, optical tweezers and calorimetry techniques. We determined that molecular crowding conditions and cations, such as Na(+), K(+), Mg(2+) and Ca(2+), promote the formation of G-triplexes and stabilize these structures. Of these four metal cations, Ca(2+) has the strongest stabilizing effect, followed by K(+), Mg(2+), and Na(+) in

SUBMITTER: Jiang HX 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5380134 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature