New insight into G-quadruplexes; diagnosis application in cancer

On the Road to Fight Cancer: The Potential of G-Quadruplex Ligands as Novel Therapeutic Agents

“…At the beginning of the twentieth century, it was suggested that guanine-rich DNA sequences have the potential to form high-order structures [ 1 ]. X-ray diffraction studies then revealed that guanylic acids may assemble into tetrameric structures that are responsible for the gel-like properties of polymeric runs of guanylic acid in aqueous solution [ 1 ].…”

“…At the beginning of the twentieth century, it was suggested that guanine-rich DNA sequences have the potential to form high-order structures [ 1 ]. X-ray diffraction studies then revealed that guanylic acids may assemble into tetrameric structures that are responsible for the gel-like properties of polymeric runs of guanylic acid in aqueous solution [ 1 ]. Subsequently, it was reported that four molecules of guanylic acid may form a square planar arrangement (G-quartet) in which the guanine residues are hydrogen-bonded to each other via Hoogsteen pairings, in the presence of monovalent cations ( Figure 1 ) [ 1 ].…”

“…X-ray diffraction studies then revealed that guanylic acids may assemble into tetrameric structures that are responsible for the gel-like properties of polymeric runs of guanylic acid in aqueous solution [ 1 ]. Subsequently, it was reported that four molecules of guanylic acid may form a square planar arrangement (G-quartet) in which the guanine residues are hydrogen-bonded to each other via Hoogsteen pairings, in the presence of monovalent cations ( Figure 1 ) [ 1 ]. The stacking of two or more G-quartets on top of each other generates a peculiar non-B DNA conformation, referred as to G-quadruplex structure (G4) ( Figure 1 ) [ 1 , 2 ].…”

“…Subsequently, it was reported that four molecules of guanylic acid may form a square planar arrangement (G-quartet) in which the guanine residues are hydrogen-bonded to each other via Hoogsteen pairings, in the presence of monovalent cations ( Figure 1 ) [ 1 ]. The stacking of two or more G-quartets on top of each other generates a peculiar non-B DNA conformation, referred as to G-quadruplex structure (G4) ( Figure 1 ) [ 1 , 2 ]. G4 structures may form within G-rich nucleic acid sequences under physiological conditions [ 1 , 2 , 3 ].…”

“…The stacking of two or more G-quartets on top of each other generates a peculiar non-B DNA conformation, referred as to G-quadruplex structure (G4) ( Figure 1 ) [ 1 , 2 ]. G4 structures may form within G-rich nucleic acid sequences under physiological conditions [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. They are highly thermodynamically stable and exhibit extensive structural polymorphism [ 4 , 5 ].…”