Ligands that stabilize the formation of telomeric DNA G-quadruplexes have potential as cancer treatments, because the G-quadruplex structure cannot be extended by telomerase, an enzyme over-expressed in many cancer cells. Understanding the kinetic, thermodynamic and mechanical properties of small-molecule binding to these structures is therefore important, but classical ensemble assays are unable to measure these simultaneously. Here, we have used a laser tweezers method to investigate such interactions. With a force jump approach, we observe that pyridostatin promotes the folding of telomeric G-quadruplexes. The increased mechanical stability of pyridostatin-bound G-quadruplex permits the determination of a dissociation constant Kd of 490 ± 80 nM. The free-energy change of binding obtained from a Hess-like process provides an identical Kd for pyridostatin and a Kd of 42 ± 3 μM for a weaker ligand RR110. We anticipate that this single-molecule platform can provide detailed insights into the mechanical, kinetic and thermodynamic properties of liganded bio-macromolecules, which have biological relevance.

Investigation of i-motif is of high importance to fully understand the biological functions of G quadruplexes in the context of double stranded DNA. Whereas single molecule approaches have profiled G quadruplexes from a perspective unavailable by bulk techniques, there is a lack of similar literature on the i-motif in the cytosine (C) rich region complementary to G quadruplex forming sequences. Here, we have used laser tweezers to investigate the structures formed in 5′-(TGTCCCCACACCCC)2, a predominate variant in the insulin linked polymorphic region (ILPR). We have observed two species with the change in contour length (ΔL) of 10.4 (±0.1) and 5.1 (±0.5) nm, respectively. Since ΔL of 10.4 nm is located within the expected range for an i-motif structure, we assign this species to the i-motif. The formation of the i-motif in the same sequence has been corroborated by bulk experiments such as Br2 footprinting, circular dichroism, and thermal denaturation. The assignment of the i-motif is further confirmed by decreased formation of this structure (23 % to 1.3 %) with pH 5.5 7.0, which is a well established behavior for i-motifs. In contrast to the i-motif, the formation of the second species with ΔL of 5.1 nm remains unchanged (6.1±1.6 %) in the same pH range, implying that pH sensitive C:CH+ pairs may not contribute to the structure as significantly as those to the i-motif. Compared to the ΔGunfold of i-motif (16.0 ±0.8 kcal/mol), the decreased free energy in the partially folded structure (ΔGunfold 10.4 ± 0.7 kcal/mol) may reflect a weakened structure with reduced C:CH+ pairs. Both ΔL and ΔGunfold argue for the intermediate nature of the partially folded structure in comparison to the i-motif. In line with this argument, we have directly observed the unfolding of i-motif through the partially folded structure. The i-motif and the partially folded structure share similar rupture forces of 22-26 pN, which are higher than those that can stall transcription catalyzed by RNA polymerases. This suggests, from a mechanical perspective alone, that either of the structures can stop RNA transcription.

Intramolecular folding in three tandem guanine repeats of human telomeric DNA has been investigated using optical-tweezers, MD simulation and circular dichroism. A mechanically and thermodynamically stable species in this sequence shows a structure consistent with a triplex conformation. A similar species has also been observed to coexist with a G-quadruplex in a DNA sequence with four tandem guanine repeats.

Recent experiments provided controversial observations that either parallel or non-parallel G-quadruplex exists in molecularly crowded buffers that mimic cellular environment. Here, we used laser tweezers to mechanically unfold structures in a human telomeric DNA fragment, 5′-(TTAGGG)4TTA, along three different trajectories. After the end-to-end distance of each unfolding geometry was measured, it was compared with PDB structures to identify the best-matching G-quadruplex conformation. This method is well-suited to identify biomolecular structures in complex settings not amenable to conventional approaches, such as in a solution with mixed species or at physiologically significant concentrations. With this approach, we found that parallel G-quadruplex coexists with non-parallel species (1:1 ratio) in crowded buffers with dehydrating cosolutes [40% w/v dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) or acetonitrile (ACN)]. In crowded solutions with steric cosolutes [40% w/v bovine serum albumin (BSA)], the parallel G-quadruplex constitutes only 10% of the population. This difference unequivocally supports the notion that dehydration promotes the formation of parallel G-quadruplexes. Compared with DNA hairpins that have decreased unfolding forces in crowded (9 pN) versus diluted (15 pN) buffers, those of G-quadruplexes remain the same (20 pN). Such a result implies that in a cellular environment, DNA G-quadruplexes, instead of hairpins, can stop DNA/RNA polymerases with stall forces often <20 pN.

G-quadruplex has demonstrated its biological functions in vivo. Although G-quadruplex in single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) has been well characterized, investigation of this species in double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) lags behind. Here we use chemical footprinting and laser-tweezers-based single-molecule approaches to demonstrate that a dsDNA fragment found in the insulin-linked polymorphic region (ILPR), 5'-(ACA GGGG TGT GGGG)2 TGT, can fold into a G-quadruplex at pH 7.4 with 100 mM K+, and an i-motif at pH 5.5 with 100 mM Li+. Surprisingly, under a condition that favors the formation of both G-quadruplex and i-motif (pH 5.5, 100 mM K+), a unique determination of change in the free energy of unfolding (ΔGunfold) by laser-tweezers experiments provides compelling evidence that only one species is present in each dsDNA. Under this condition, molecules containing G-quadruplex are more stable than those with i-motif. These two species have mechanical stabilities (rupture force≥17 pN) comparable to the stall force of RNA polymerases, which, from a mechanical perspective alone, could justify a regulatory mechanism for tetraplex structures in the expression of human insulin.