Folding and persistence times of intramolecular G-quadruplexes transiently embedded in a DNA duplex.

ABSTRACT: G-quadruplex (G4) DNA structures have emerged as important regulatory elements during DNA metabolic transactions. While many in vitro studies have focused on the kinetics of G4 formation within DNA single-strands, G4 are found in vivo in double-stranded DNA regions, where their formation is challenged by the complementary strand. Since the energy of hybridization of Watson-Crick structures dominates the energy of G4 folding, this competition should play a critical role on G4 persistence. To address this, we designed a single-molecule assay allowing to measure G4 folding and persistence times in the presence of the complementary strand. We quantified both folding and unfolding rates of biologically relevant G4 sequences, such as the cMYC and cKIT oncogene promoters, human telomeres and an a

SUBMITTER: Tran PLT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8136832 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature