Mapping and characterization of G-quadruplexes in Mycobacterium tuberculosis gene promoter regions.

ABSTRACT: Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the causative agent of tuberculosis (TB), one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide in 2015. The recent emergence of strains resistant to all current drugs urges the development of compounds with new mechanisms of action. G-quadruplexes are nucleic acids secondary structures that may form in G-rich regions to epigenetically regulate cellular functions. Here we implemented a computational tool to scan the presence of putative G-quadruplex forming sequences in the genome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and analyse their association to transcription start sites. We found that the most stable G-quadruplexes were in the promoter region of genes belonging to definite functional categories. Actual G-quadruplex folding of four selected sequences was assessed by biophy

SUBMITTER: Perrone R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5515968 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature